The Sage Summoners of Konoha
by dkspimpedout13
Summary: Being Rewritten in the near future. Look out for Updates! 10/01/16
1. Changes

Hello everyone! Welcome to my second story! Now, I know some of you may be thinking," Why are you starting another story when you just started your other one back up?" And the answer to that is simple! I have ideas that are overloading my mind and distracting me from my other story. So Forest Dweller is not going to be discontinued. I just need something else to focus on while I think of other ideas.

Few things before we get into this one. First of all is that this is going to be major A.U. Akatsuki is not going to exist in this story. Now, actually, that's not the right way to word it. Akatsuki will exist but not in the way that Obito ends up making it. So Madara and Obito are actually dead. No surprise revives here. So Akatsuki will only exist in Ame where it was created and meant to be. There will not be anyone hunting the Jinchuriki down so they will be in their villages, in exile, hated, etc. The reason I am doing this is because I want to explore a universe where the five nations were not brought together due to Obito and Madara trying to use Mugen Tsukiyomi. This can lead to some interesting things down the road. The second thing is that the members of Akatsuki, Kakuzu, Hidan, Itatchi, etc., are now simply missing nin.

The final thing is that there is going to be a minor change to Naruto's character. He is still rash, annoying, and full of tricks, but I sadly don't really know how to write Naruto the way that Naruto actually is. So in this he is slightly smarter. He is dead last due to sabotage and the general dislike for him, but he isn't a complete idiot. This story is going to pick up right after the Genin test because I honestly don't want to write that out and I don't know how many times I've had to read it. Naruto knows the Kage Bunshin and that's it. Hope you enjoy the story!

 **XXXXX**

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

 **'Biju thoughts'**

" **Biju speaking"**

 **XXXXX The Sage Summoners of Konoha XXXXX**

Kakashi stared at the monument stone sitting in front of him. He looked up at the sky, noticing a significant lack of clouds. A beautiful day if ever there was one.

'Sensei, Obito, Rin... I wish you all could be here to enjoy this beautiful day.' Kakashi let a small sigh escape him. He wasn't good enough to save any of them. Namikaze Minato died sealing the Kyuubi away into Naruto. Obito died saving him and Rin during the Third Great Ninja War. His hand absently went up to his Sharingan. A gift that he had used well in the years that followed. Rin... he allowed his right hand to close tightly as a tear fell down his visible eye. A terrible thing had happened. She had been used as the Jinchuriki of the Sanbi. Kiri was going to use her as a weapon to cripple Konoha. She knew this and when he went to use his Chidori on an enemy, Rin slipped in front of him and died by his hand. The seal that was used on her broke and the Sanbi was released in Mizu no kuni. Kakashi had barely been able to escape with his life intact. The Kiri ninja that had been chasing them however, were not as lucky.

Kakashi let his grip go as his mind wandered to his new Genin team. Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and finally, Uzumaki Naruto. To be honest, he hadn't wanted to pass them. He knew that he owed it to two of them having been on a team with Uchiha Obito and Naruto's father being his sensei. He wanted to fail them. He wanted to fail them like he had the other teams. But for the first time, a team actually managed to grasp the concept of teamwork. They weren't going to let him starve one of them. They took care of each other and settled their differences. Kakashi knew that he had to not only pass them but that he was obligated to train them. He was the only one that could show Sasuke how to unlock and use his Sharingan, the only one that could teach Naruto the morals and code that his father had passed to him. He thought long and hard and decided that he had plenty of time. They were new Genin anyway. No need to make them monsters yet. Let them enjoy the childhood that he never had. Kakashi frowned slightly as he felt someone coming up behind him.

"Ne, Naruto? I told you that training was over and to meet at training ground seven at ten." Naruto came up next to Kakashi and stared at the memorial stone.

"I've been here a few times you know. Trying to find my parent's names on the stone. Never really could though. Don't have the patience to really sit down and go name by name." Kakashi frowned at that. The reason he couldn't find his parents names were because they were buried in the graveyard. Their bodies had each been given a special tomb due to their status. Naruto probably never bothered to actually check any of the graves. He looked down at the boy and smiled slightly. He was the spitting image of a young Minato. The resemblance was uncanny.

"Why do you come here Kakashi-sensei?" The question was innocent enough but Kakashi wasn't sure he wanted to answer it.

"I come here to visit friends. I pay them respect and keep them company." He looked at Naruto and noticed him thinking very hard about something.

"Is this why you're late all the time?"

Kakashi gave him an eye smile. "This may be one of the reasons yes." Naruto let out a little huff and turned to him. "Why do you spend so much time here Kakashi-sensei? Don't you think that they would rather you do your best to protect the other people in the village rather than spend all of your time here?"

The question hit Kakashi like a sack of bricks. He went to open his mouth and give an answer but found that he didn't have one. "I...I stay because its my fault some of them are here." Kakashi cringed as he said it. He hadn't admitted that to anyone besides the Hokage and that had been years ago. Naruto's eyes seemed to soften a bit at the revelation.

"Well don't you think that you should focus on helping your friends now become stronger so that it doesn't happen again? Making sure that you are strong enough and making those around you strong will let us all kick ass together!" Naruto pumped his fist into the air and looked at Kakashi expecting a response.

Kakashi was actually shocked. The logic made sense and he had thought of that himself, but it wasn't easy to just do it. Or was it? "Thank you Naruto. Perhaps you're right. We'll find out tomorrow. I'll see you around." He turned to leave, putting his hand on Naruto's head and messed up his hair before disappearing in a shunshin. On a tree looking at Naruto by the stone, Kakashi smiled.

'Thank you Naruto. You are right. I can't just let those around me fall because I wasn't strong enough. I have to help them become strong.' Jumping off the tree heading towards the Hokage's office, Kakashi realized exactly what he needed to do.

 **XXXXX**

Hiruzen looked at the Jounin instructors in front of him. Each of them with the exception of a few, had trained Genin before and had oral reports ready as they filed in. Looking to the left of his office he saw the Jounin instructors he was waiting for. Yuuhi Kurenai, the Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha; and Sarutobi Asuma, one of the twelve guardian ninja as well as his son and heir to the Sarutobi name.

Hiruzen looked them all over with an expectant eye. "I am ready to hear the reports. We'll start with team one and move up. You may begin when ready." And so began the explanations of each team. Teams one through six were failed. They either didn't have the necessary skills or didn't show an understanding of teamwork. As they were about to go to team eight however, Kakashi walked through the door and walked through to stand by Asuma and Kurenai.

Kakashi gave a lazy wave as he walked up. "Sorry I'm late Hokage-sama, a black cat crossed my path and I had to take the long way around to avoid any bad luck." Hiruzen looked at Kakashi, stunned for the moment. That man had been at least two hours late to every meeting since the death of his teammates. Hiruzen looked at the clock and saw that they had only been here for half an hour. He coughed slightly as he look at Kakashi. "It is alright Kakashi. We were just going over which teams passed and failed. Team seven was next appropriately. How did they do ?"

Everyone around Kakashi sighed. Everyone knew that he failed his teams on purpose. Kakashi looked at the Hokage and gave him his infamous eye smile.

"My team consisting of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto...Passed." Hiruzen smiled hearing this. The Jounin around him however, were all looking at him like he had ten heads. Very quickly everyone in the office started to talk about how he had never passed a team and what had changed. The questions would have gotten more troublesome, but luckily Hiruzen spoke to Kurenai.

"My dear, your team? How did they do?" It took Kurenai a moment to realize he was talking to her.

"Well sir, my team consisting of Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino passed with flying colors." Hiruzen nodded, smiling at another rookie team passing. That only left one more. The Jounin of team nine stepped forward and said that his team had failed miserably. Hiruzen's smile quickly left his face. How had so many teams failed this year? Before he could ask any more questions, Asuma stepped forward.

"My team consisting of Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Chouji, passed." There was no bragging, no excitement, he simply stated the facts. But as he stepped back he saw a slight smirk appear on his son's face. Hiruzen smiled once more as he looked over all the Jounin in the room.

"I am pleased to hear that at least three teams have passed. Please allow me a few minutes with the new Jounin sensei and I will see the rest of you at the briefing tomorrow. A chorus of yes Hokage-sama was heard as the seven Jounin that failed their teams used the shunshin to disappear.

"Now, do any of you have any questions?" Seeing all of them shake their heads he nodded and turned his chair to look out the window. "Very well, you are all dismissed. Kakashi, wait a moment before you go."

Asuma and Kurenai left quietly, leaving Kakashi and Hiruzen alone. Kakashi stepped forward and stood next to Hiruzen as he looked out the window at his village. Hiruzen looked up at him from his chair and smiled.

"Something about you is different Kakashi. You were only thirty minutes late. Care to explain that to me?" He heard Kakashi chuckle a little bit.

"I am going to make them the strongest the village has seen." Hiruzen's eyebrow rose at that.

"I take it you mean your team? What brought this on?" Kakashi looked at him and smiled.

"Naruto reminds me so much of sensei. He has the same mindset, same looks, hell, I bet he probably will fight like him. He approached me at the memorial stone and we had a very revealing talk."

Hiruzen smiled. "So I take it you will have them as Chunin sooner rather than later?" He felt Kakashi chuckle again.

"I'm going to do to them what you did to the Sannin." Hiruzen's eyes went wide at that! What had Naruto said to Kakashi to get him so motivated?

"Kakashi, why do you desire to make them so strong? This is all rather new so I hope you don't mind that I'm asking you so many questions."

"Not at all. There needs to be a new person that will help save others. Protect others. I am going to train them to do what I wasn't able to. Now if you'll excuse me Hokage-sama, I have a few preparations to make." With that, Kakashi disappeared through the open window and Hiruzen was left alone with his thoughts. Taking out his pipe and slowly packing the tobacco in, he took a match and lit the leaves. Taking a deep drag, Hiruzen was left with a smile.

'What an interesting change of events. Naruto my boy, you are destined for great things.' A chuckle escaped his lips as he went back to his paperwork.

 **XXXXX** **At training ground seven, ten am the next morning**

Naruto yawned as he sat down next to the post, his back leaning against it. Sasuke and Sakura were doing the same thing only on the other sides of the post. He gave a big sigh before leaning over and whispering to Sakura. " When do you think Kakashi-sensei is going to get here?"

Sakura frowned and looked Naruto dead in the eye. "Naruto, I am not going to warn you again. This is the sixth time you've asked. He will get here when he gets here. Its only ten so he should be here any minute."

Naruto frowned and leaned back on his side. " What do you think teme?" Naruto felt Sasuke get annoyed more than he actually saw it.

"I don't know dobe and if you ask again I will shove a kunai right up your a..." just as Sasuke was going to finish his threat, Kakashi showed up on top of the post squatting and scared them.

Naruto was the first to respond. "What the hell sensei! You nearly scared us to death!" Sakura and Sasuke stayed quiet but they both agreed with Naruto for once.

Kakashi thought to himself for a moment before he nodded. "If I had been an enemy you all could have been dead. Unacceptable." He pointed at the outskirts of the training ground. "Ten laps, all of you."

They all raised a brow at that. Sakura raised her hand. Kakashi shook his head slightly. "This isn't school Sakura just say what you need to." Blushing, Sakura turned to him. "Why are we going to run laps sensei?" Kakashi smiled. "Because I said so! Now get to it!" None of them moved and Kakashi sighed.

"Alright, here is how things are going to work from now on. If I tell you to do something, you're going to do it. I am now directly in charge of all three of you. That means that minus killing you, I can do whatever I see fit. I am now going to be training you all. And to be completely honest, you all suck miserably." Naruto and Sasuke both went to object this, but Kakashi was quick to shut them down.

"Naruto I could, in five seconds mind you, get behind you, pierce you through with a kunai, and toss your corpse in the river. Sasuke I could, in ten seconds, restrain you, rip out your eyes, and burn them." Both Naruto and Sasuke swallowed rather loudly and closed their mouths.

"I am one of the most elite Jounin in this village. I will protect it with my life and that is exactly what I expect from all three of you. Nothing I have you do will be to make you suffer without reason. If I tell you to run it may be a punishment, but you'll also be working on your stamina. If I have you fight me, it isn't to embarrass you. Its so I can get a grasp of your fighting styles and what I can do to modify it." He looked at each of them and saw that the hesitation was gone.

"I will protect and train all of you until I cannot do so anymore or you are all ready to defend others. Now, ten laps. Go!."

His three students leaped up and moved to run around the training ground. Kakashi watched with a careful eye. Sasuke moved quickly to the front at a sprint and ran around multiple times, lapping Sakura and Naruto once before slowing down significantly. Naruto set a pace immediately and never stopped that pace. It was a steady run that allowed him to not only catch up to Sasuke, but lap him. 'Stamina boost from being an Uzumaki no doubt.' As the ten laps slowly ran out, Sakura was clearly the least physical of the three. Panting heavily, Sakura stopped just shy of eight laps and looked over to Kakashi.

"That's enough! All of you can come back over here." Naruto kept his same pace and ran over to him. Sasuke tried to keep a steady jog but ended up walking the last few feet. Sakura, the poor girl, was left dragging herself over to where they all were.

"Now, what do you all know about chakra exercises?" None of their hand went up immediately, but Sakura was the first one to speak. "There is the leaf spinning exercise. It trains us to keep focus on one point and then control of our chakra to rotate the leaf slowly."

Kakashi nodded. "Very good Sakura. Now do any of you know the more advanced exercises?" Kakashi heard the crickets chirping. "Alright, there are a few of them that you will need to know. These will not only train your reserves up, but also increase your reserves so that you can handle more advanced techniques." He let the information sink in before he continued on.

"The first is called tree climbing. And before you say anything, you do not know how to climb trees like this." Sakura immediately closed her mouth and watched. Kakashi walked over to where the first big tree was and walked right up it like gravity didn't mean a thing.

Naruto sat their with his mouth wide open, Sasuke's eyes went slightly wide, and Sakura simply smiled. Walking back down to his students, took out a few kunai and set them at their feet. "Use those to mark your progress. The trick is to send chakra through your feet and use them to stick to the tree. Now try it out and I will guide you as you go."

Sakura was actually the first to get to a tree. Putting out her foot gingerly, Sakura surprised herself as she quickly walked up the tree. As she came back down Kakashi was waiting.

"I did it Kakashi-sensei! I did it on my first try!" Kakashi couldn't help but smile at her. He put a hand on her shoulder and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"Sakura it was so easy because of two things. One, is that you happen to have very good control. The second is that you don't have a lot of chakra to control in the first place. Now keep climbing and going up and down. You're going to run out of chakra very quickly. Go for as long as you can." Sakura looked slightly dejected but she turned around and started walking up and down the tree.

Naruto and Sasuke both looked at each other before rushing their respective trees. They both reached their trees at the same time and two things happened. One is that Sasuke got two steps up the tree and fell flat on his ass. At that same moment however, Naruto was blown away from the tree by the sheer force of his chakra. Kakashi looked at the two on the ground and smirked. This was going to be great to watch.

"Naruto, Sasuke, the trick is to use the proper amount of chakra. Too much and you get blown off the tree due to it breaking. Too little and you wont even make it up the tree. Try again and instead of running, stick your foot to the trunk and see how much you'll need before you rush it."

Kakashi watched as the two boys both spend ten minutes trying to adjust their chakra. No surprise that as soon as Sasuke decided to give it a try, so did Naruto. Clearly that little rivalry didn't die. They both rushed the trees again and to his surprise they both made it about twelve steps up the tree before they had to jump off and land. It seems the rivalry between the two makes them both want to do better. They took off again and this time Sasuke made it fifteen steps and Naruto thirteen. He nodded to himself. Sasuke was apparently a genius. He would pick up on everything that he threw at him. Naruto clearly was not due to his grades but he saw that as Sasuke did better, it made him want to exceed his own goals. Naruto was going to be the type of person who persevered due to sheer will.

Watching his students train, Kakashi realized that he had a pretty balanced team. Sakura was, at this point, the weakest of the three. Her near perfect chakra control was due to the fact that she had next to no reserves to speak of. This was both a blessing and a curse. This made her the ideal genjutsu user and medic for the team. Sasuke, he had to admit, was very much like himself. He was fast but didn't have massive reserves. Sasuke would easily be the finesse fighter of the team. Using both ninjutsu, taijutsu, as well as whatever tricks he could show him with weapons. Naruto...Well he was going to be the muscle. His chakra reserves alone made him the ideal ninjutsu specialist for the team. As well as his stamina and ability to keep going, this made him a very potent front line fighter. Give him the knowledge to use his clones In a smarter way, he could easily be the scout as well. Not to mention that he had the Kyuubi...

Kakashi smiled. This team was going to be destined for greatness. He was going to make sure of that. "Kids that's enough for now. Come down here." Naruto ran over as he had before, Sasuke walked, and Sakura jumped from the tree landing next to Kakashi.

"Now, guess what you get to do now kids?" None of them liked the chipper tone that had entered Kakashi's voice. At that moment though, Sakura's eyes went wide. "Oh no... It's not D ranked missions is it?" Kakashi eye smiled at them. "It's D rank time!" He turned and waved them over. "Lets move out kiddies we have some missions to do!" Naruto and Sasuke simply frowned not getting what the big deal was. Sakura, having read about it at the library, was not too happy to hear that this is what they were going to be doing now.

Kakashi grinned under his mask. Having a team wasn't so bad after all!

 **XXXXX** Training ground seven, eight thirty pm

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura sat once again around the middle post. They were all exhausted. Kakashi hadn't just made them do one D rank... He had made them do seven. Seven! What was he trying to do, kill them? Kakashi was sitting cross legged in front of Sakura, reading a little orange book.

"Now kids, want to tell me why I had you do seven D ranks in a row?" Naruto looked at him angrily.

"Is it because you're a sadist?" Kakashi smirked at that one.

"Oh that's a big word Naruto! Where did you learn that one?" Naruto growled at him as the other two stayed quiet. Kakashi shook his head at them.

"Teamwork. To be successful as a shinobi you cant just be all power and no teamwork. You have to grow as a team before you can grow as shinobi. As such, I have decided a few things for you. First off, none of you are allowed to sleep at home without the other two. They all looked at Kakashi with wide eyes. " That's right. If you are to become a team you can no longer simply be strangers. You will eat together, sleep under the same roof, breathe the same air, all of it. Secondly, we will do a minimum of seven D ranks a day. As your team work gets better, you will see that the D ranks will melt away. The final thing is that we will train everyday. You are now full time shinobi. You don't get to take it easy right away. You have things to learn, people to meet, missions to run. Unless you are specifically given leave by the Hokage, you are working. My plan is to make you three the strongest shinobi to come out of Konoha since the Sannin."

All three members of team seven looked at Kakashi and sighed. Kakashi looked at the three of them and reached into his pouch, pulling out three scrolls. One was yellow, one was pink, and the other was black. Throwing them at their respective members, Kakashi smiled at them.

"We are done for the day. You will meet me here again at eight tomorrow. The things I just mentioned start tonight. You will sleep under the same roof or I will make sure you don't sleep at all. Now, the scrolls I have given you are ones that I made up while you three were focused on the D ranks. Each scroll has a handful of tips for what I believe you should focus on, what you need to improve, and a single technique. I have the same one on all three and you three have until the end of the week to learn it. You three will learn the same moves. You will be able to help each other learn and grow. And once I have deemed you goo enough with the basics, we will begin your specializations. Until tomorrow, you three are dismissed." As an after thought, Kakashi made two Kage Bunshin and sent them to each of his students while he personally went over to Sakura.

 **XXXXX** With Sakura

Kakashi took Sakura and brought her over to a tree by the river. Sakura looked at him and was worried. She hoped this wasn't training!

"Sakura, do you know what happens when there is a relationship within a team?" Sakura looked up at him, blushed, and shook her head as she looked over at Sasuke. Kakashi stepped over and blocked her view of him. "Sakura, as soon as you put that headband on you became a shinobi of Konohagakure. As such, you are going to be held to a certain set of rules. Now while I don't think that it would be a bad thing for the two of you to be together, at this point in time, it is probably bad if you two tried to be together. He doesn't have the same feeling that you think you have for him and if you try to force something it may ruin what you could possibly have." Sakura's eyes went wide and she put her head down, feeling a little sad for herself.

"Hey, listen, all I think is that you should focus on making yourself stronger rather than trying to impress a boy who is obsessed with revenge. He respects strength Sakura. If you want him you have to prove that you are his equal. Now come on, the others are finished talking."

 **XXXXX** With Naruto

Kakashi's clone took Naruto in the opposite direction of Sasuke and stood in front of him. Naruto wasn't too happy at the moment. Today had been hell. Even if he wanted to become Hokage, training like they did today everyday was going to be rough.

"Naruto listen to me. I know you have feelings for Sakura, but where do you think that is going to lead right now?" Naruto looked at him, gaping like a fish.

"I just have to show her how strong I can be!" Naruto pumped his fist in the air and stared at Kakashi defiantly.

"Naruto, listen to me please," he emphasized the please," If you were to try and get involved with Sakura right now it would ruin the team dynamic that is starting to form. I need you to focus on yourself right now. I need you to focus on being a part of this team. Can you do that for me?"

Naruto pouted as he sat down, crossing his arms and looking away from Kakashi. "Why should I? You've been mean to us since we became a team."

Kakashi sighed. He didn't think he would be this childish about it. "Naruto I'll make you a deal. If you can focus on yourself, the team, and leave romance out of it, I'll take you out to get as much ramen as you want. Deal?" Naruto's eyes went wide with delight.

"Sensei you have yourself a deal! And when I'm done learning how to be awesome I'll win Sakura over that way!" Kakashi nodded and the clone popped out of existence leaving Naruto looking at an approaching Kakashi and Sakura. Naruto smiled and walked over to them.

 **XXXXX** With Sasuke

Kakashi's clone simply stood there waiting for the other two to go away. He looked at Sasuke and frowned. The boy was clearly mad, but wouldn't do anything about it.

"Do you know what I'm about to ask of you?" Sasuke shook his head in a negative.

"I know of your desire for revenge. You want revenge on Itatchi for what happened to your clan. I need a few things from you however, and one of them is giving up on Itatchi for the time being."

Sasuke looked at Kakashi and the disgust and anger was now clearly on his face. "Just give up? Just let my clan become a smudge in the history books? You wish Sensei." He spat the work sensei like it was venom.

Kakashi frowned at the boy but slowly reached up to his headband and revealed to Sasuke that he possessed the Sharingan. Sasuke let out a sharp hiss of breath and looked at him expecting answers. "How did you get the Sharingan!? You're not an Uchiha!" Sasuke's anger was not really a surprise to Kakashi. When it came to his clan, it was the only thing that actually DID get Sasuke riled up.

"It was a gift from a friend who died during the war. Now listen to me. I don't want you to give up on Itatchi forever. I want you to wait for a few years. You aren't strong enough now, but with my training, you will be. I need you to let those two in. Don't shut them out. Let them become your friends and learn from them. I need you to focus on teamwork and becoming a better person. Don't let Itatchi rule your life."

Sasuke looked down before looking Kakashi in the eyes. "I want the story behind that Sharingan when we have time. And the only promise I will make is that I wont inherently shut them out. If they annoy me, or try to ask things that they shouldn't, I will no respond well."

Kakashi nodded. "That's about as much as I expected. Thank you Sasuke." With that, The clone burst into smoke and Sasuke saw that Kakashi and Sakura were walking over to meet up again. Looking over, he saw Naruto walking over as well.

'Might as well get this over with.' Sasuke frowned and walked over.

 **XXXXX** With Team Seven

Kakashi walked over with Sakura as the two boys finished their little chats and walked towards them. He eyed them each and noticed that the way they looked at each other had changed. "Now that we've had our talks, I would like each of you to spend a little time with each other. So pick one of your houses and get to talking." He eye smiled as he began to walk away. "See you all tomorrow!" And with a small poof of smoke, Kakashi was gone.

The rest of team seven uneasily looked at each other. Sasuke looked at Naruto and Sakura and tried to decide if he could let them into his life like Kakashi-sensei wanted. Naruto looked at Sakura and realized that he wasn't allowed to try and get her to go out with him like he had been trying to do that past few, well, years. He then looked at Sasuke and tried to figure out if the two of them could get along. Sakura looked at Sasuke and frowned sadly. She knew that she was weak, and she also knew that Sasuke hated weakness. She nodded absently to herself. She would become stronger and win his love! Naruto however. She sighed. She would put up with him and give him a fair shot instead of just shooting him down.

As the trio each struggled with what they were going to do, Naruto's stomach let out a loud growl. He reached for his stomach and let out a groan. "Awe man... We haven't eaten since this afternoon! Are you guys hungry?" As if guided by Kami, both Sakura and Sasuke's stomachs began growling in protest. Naruto chuckled at his new teammates and smiled.

"I know the perfect place to get some good food! You guys want to come with me?" Now while both of them would have originally said no, neither of them was in any rush to go home, also seeing as they had to get to know one another, what better way than over food? The two of them nodded and Naruto began the trek into the village towards a very specific ramen stand...

 **XXXXX** Ichiraku Ramen, ten pm

Laughter could be heard coming from the ramen stand in hysterical bunches. Inside the stand Naruto could be heard recounting some of his more original pranks. He had Sakura laughing hysterically and even Sasuke let out a chuckle or two. The story in question was when he was a young boy and had dug a ditch for a merchant to fall into. Seeing that he had fallen for his trick, Naruto did what any boy his age would have done. He pissed on his head.

Wiping her eyes, Sakura looked at Naruto as another fit of laughs came out. "Naruto seriously? What is wrong with you? That's not funny at all!" while she said that, Sakura couldn't help but laugh.

Naruto grinned. "I'm telling you the bastard deserved it!" He stopped talking for a few minutes to drain his bowl of broth. As he finished he looked to Sasuke and Sakura with a neutral expression.

"So I know we have to sleep under the same roof, so if you wanted we could use my house. No one else lives with me and I know the landlord wont mind. She kind of leaves me be anyway."

Sasuke and Sakura looked at one another and shrugged. Sasuke spoke up first. "Do you have more than one bed? Or something that we can sleep on?"

Naruto frowned. "Actually I don't. Just my bed and a small couch. Is that okay?" Sasuke shook his head and thought to himself for a minute. He spoke calmly but it seemed a bit strained. "You both will stay at my home for tonight. I have extra rooms and it will be more comfortable."

Naruto shrugged and nodded, motioning for him to lead the way. Sakura looked at Naruto and frowned. "Naruto who is going to pay for this?" At that moment, an older gentleman appeared by the counter. He smiled at Naruto.

"Oh don't worry little miss. Me and Naruto have an agreement. This bit of food is on the house." Sakura looked at him and bowed. " Thank you very much for the food mister..." The old man laughed. "Ah, that's good. Names Teuchi. Teuchi Ichiraku." Sakura smiled at him and the three of them entered the streets following Sasuke to his home.

 **XXXXX** Uchiha Clan District, ten thirty pm

Sasuke led them through the village to one of the more prominent districts. Konoha had twenty one districts in it. Districts one through seven were for civilians. Eight through fifteen were for shops and other commercial buildings. Sixteen through twenty one were for shinobi and training grounds. Sasuke took them through district eighteen and up to a walled off area of the village. Right above the open gate was the Uchiha Clan crest. Sasuke led them into the Uchiha clan grounds right up the road and slightly to the right. Sasuke stopped at the door and turned to look at his teammates.

"This is my home. What I say here goes. If you have a problem with that you can sleep outside, understand?" He saw the two of them nod and he walked inside.

Pointing immediately to his left he pointed to a closed room. "No one goes in there. Ever. If that door opens you will be thrown out." Continuing down the hall way he showed Naruto and Sakura to their rooms. "I will be up at six. I cook breakfast usually for myself only. If you want something you better wake up and make it yourself. Do not break anything and don't wake me up unless it's an emergency." As he started to walk away, he stopped abruptly and turned around. "Goodnight, sleep well." With that he turned around and went to his own room and closed the door.

Naruto and Sakura slowly made their way over to the beds and began to get comfortable. After laying down and realizing how tired they actually were, they both slipped into blissful sleep.

 **XXXXX** Uchiha Clan District, eleven pm

Kakashi looked down approvingly at his Genin squad. He didn't think that they would take to his training conditions so quickly. He never left them when he left the training grounds. He had shadowed them to the ramen stand and after that to the Uchiha Clan District. He was honestly proud of the little brats. They took direction well. When the time came he was sure that they would become very influential members of the village. Shaking his head, Kakashi made his way over towards district nineteen, where his home was located. Jumping leisurely from rooftop to rooftop, Kakashi realized that he was _excited_. He couldn't wait to train his team and make them the best that they could be. He made one final promise to his deceased friends.

'I won't let what happened to you happen to anyone else. That's a promise.'

 **XXXXX**

And that's chapter one! Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I would greatly appreciate some constructive reviews! I'm trying to become a better writer and I wont do that if no one tells me how I suck! I will not promise on a set time limit to update but I will attempt to keep it somewhat regular. Well, until next time!

-D.K


	2. Training

Welcome one and all to chapter two! I won't lie to you, I find myself thinking more about this story than Forest Dweller. I look at how I wrote Forest Dweller and noticed that in six chapters, I only wrote about 13,000 words. With this story, the first chapter alone was 6500 words. I think I may need to re write Forest Dweller. Don't really know how I would do it but I don't really like how I wrote it. Anyway, Without anymore bullshit, onto the story!

 **XXXXX**

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

 **'Biju thoughts'**

" **Biju speech"**

 **XXXXX The Sage Summoners of Konoha XXXXX**

Naruto woke with a start. He sat up straight and looked around the room. Shaking the sleepiness out of his eyes, Naruto groggily got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. As he walked down the hall, half blind, he accidentally walked right into the frame of the doorway. Falling onto his butt rather unceremoniously, he heard a small chuckle as Sakura hopped over him and closed the bathroom door.

"Sakura! Come on, I really have to pee!" Naruto didn't get a response right away as the door remained closed.

"Sorry Naruto! Don't you have any manners? Ladies first!" He heard a flush and Sakura proceeded to step right over him and head towards where the kitchen was. Naruto grumbled and took his turn in the bathroom before heading to the kitchen himself. As he walked in he saw that both Sasuke and Sakura were eating a simple breakfast. Naruto came up to the table and sat down, forming a triangle between the three.

"So, did either of you look at your scrolls?" Sasuke turned and looked at each of his teammate expectantly. They both nodded at him frowning as they did so. "So I assume that you all know what your flaws are as well?" An uncomfortable silence fell over the table. They all definitely knew now. Kakashi had not held back when he made those scrolls. For what they were all good at, they received praise. What they needed to fix however, he was quick to put them down. They heard Sasuke sigh.

"My flaws are that I'm considered a 'loner'." He stressed the word loner. "I don't play well with others and have a bit of a..." He paused again, visibly getting annoyed. "I have a superiority complex due to my clan and I think I'm better than everyone else." Crossing his arms, Sasuke leaned back and looked away, seeming almost ashamed at having to admit that.

Sakura was the next one to talk. "I uh, well to be honest I suck. I'm probably the smartest one here but my reserves are small, small even for a Genin, I lack skill in either Ninjutsu or Taijutsu, and my stamina is very bad." Frowning to herself, Sakura then looked at Naruto, waiting for him to admit his faults.

"Uh, sorry but I'm actually amazing! I'm going to be the Hokage one day remember?" He let out a laugh and a cheeky grin before looking at thew scowls he was receiving from his teammates. Naruto frowned himself and crossed his arms. "Alright, alright! Fine, you guys are no fun you know that? I suck at Genjutsu. As in I don't think I'll ever be able to do them properly. My chakra control is the worst out of the three of us, I am rash and lack finesse, and I don't always listen." Naruto looked at his two teammates, rather perturbed. "Are you happy? We all suck at different things."

Sasuke simply hummed to himself slightly. "Well it seems Kakashi wants us to work together to fix our shortcomings. Sakura is the best out of us with chakra control, I am skilled at Ninjutsu and my clans Taijutsu, and Naruto, I hate to admit it but you are maybe the best of us with pure chakra and Taijutsu." Both Naruto and Sakura were shocked to hear Sasuke give them compliments. What the hell had Kakashi said to him for such a drastic change to occur?

Sasuke stood up from the table and turned to head for his room. "If you two would like to join me, I'm going to do my morning training. You should bring your scrolls out as well if you join me. We do have a jutsu to learn." Walking away, Sasuke left a dumbfounded Naruto and Sakura behind. Not wanting to be left behind, they both hopped up and ran to get changed, grabbing some of the toast on the table as they ran off.

 **XXXXX** Training Ground Seven, seven thirty am

Kakashi was very surprised. He had arrived at his training ground to find his Genin team already training! He had written down the instructions for the Shunshin no jutsu (Body Flicker) in each of their scrolls. The trick was however, that he had written it in three parts on each of their scrolls. If they didn't have all three, they would never be able to figure out the technique. He saw them practicing and was not disappointed. Sakura was, obviously, the first one to get the technique. Not having a lot of chakra allowed her to truly feel out a jutsu and get how it worked before executing it flawlessly. He didn't know how long they had been out there but it was truly impressive. Sasuke could move about ten to fifteen feet from the look of it. He watched Sakura and had even asked her how she did it from the look of it. Naruto... well Naruto kept hitting trees. The boy could not control where he was going. He let the speed get to him and didn't know how to stop. He saw Sakura laughing and Sasuke smirking as Naruto hit a tree for the third time. The boy truly needed every bit of chakra control he could muster just to do that.

Looking down at his squad, Kakashi felt a sense of pride. They took everything he said seriously. They trusted him already and they were all motivated. He couldn't have asked for a better group. Eye smiling, Kakashi watched speed around the training ground, all of them trying to master the Shunshin no jutsu.

 **XXXXX** Team Seven, seven forty five am

Naruto let out a cry as he hit a tree for what seemed like the fifth time. He felt it was different this time! He almost stopped but he seemed to pull left and hit the tree every time he did the Shunshin. He let out an exasperated sigh. "Why can't I get this? Damn it!" He punched the ground, annoyed that he couldn't get it.

Sakura walked over to him, one of her hand on her hips as she leaned over to talk to him. "Naruto, you have too much chakra! You can't control the amount that you have! If you can't control your chakra enough to do a Shunshin, then you need more control! That or you need less chakra!" She laughed as she said it and Shunshined back over to to where the posts were and sat down.

Naruto thought to himself for a minute. Then he lit up like a light bulb. "Sakura that's it!" Naruto hopped up and quickly made the seal for the Kage Bunshin no jutsu. Yelling out the technique, Naruto quickly made thirty or so clones. Feeling the lack of chakra for the moment, Naruto quickly tried to do a Shunshin. He quickly disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared next to Sakura, who was looking at him with her mouth wide open.

"Dattebayo! I knew I had it down!" Naruto was celebrating as Sasuke came over and smirked. "Yeah, good job you only had to get rid of half your chakra." Naruto quickly stopped celebrating and his clones started to disperse. The three of them sat down against the post like they usually did and awaited Kakashi's entrance.

They didn't have to wait long because as soon as they had gotten comfortable, Kakashi Shunshined over to where they were and gave them an infamous eye smile.

"And how are my little Genin today? How was your night together?" He received silence in return. "Well that's no way to greet your sensei! I'm hurt! Offended even!" He saw all of them roll their eyes and he received a unanimous 'good morning Kakashi-sensei'. He looked them over carefully. Even though they had been training for what seemed like an hour, they all seemed rather spry. "Now, which one of you wants to tell me what you did last night into this morning?"

Sasuke looked at him and recounted the events that happened last night as well as the talk that they had that morning. He then told Kakashi that they had all mastered the Shunshin and were ready for whatever he threw at them. Kakashi simply chuckled at them. "A good lie Sasuke, but being able to perform the move doesn't mean it is mastered. I believe Naruto hit that tree five times before he realized he needed less chakra to do it. While you have all _learned_ it, it is far from being mastered. Now, do me a favor and go run ten laps. Stamina time!" The three Genin unanimously groaned and got up to start their running. As they ran, Kakashi was actually a little shocked at their progress in one day! While having a team work together to figure out a technique was not unheard of, it was a tad bit unorthodox. They had gotten it in a few hours. With Sasuke's genius, Sakura's brain, and Naruto's ability to never quit, he could throw jutsu at them everyday and they would probably learn most of them.

A few minutes had passed and all three of his students were standing in front of him. They had ran as a team. They hadn't left Sakura behind, Sasuke hadn't tried to take first place so to speak, and Naruto kept his same steady pace. He nodded approvingly. "You are all getting it. Without your teammates you cannot succeed. Run with them, learn with them, and improve with them. Now, Naruto, Sasuke, you both never finished the tree climbing." He gave a little whistle and threw his head in the direction of the trees. "Get to it." The two boys rushed off, immediately trying to get up the tree.

"What about me Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura looked a bit winded due to the run but other than that she seemed fine. "Sakura, I'm at a bit of a loss for you. The boys, they're going to be monsters. Throwing jutsu around like shuriken. They will have differing fighting styles seeing as Naruto is strong and Sasuke is agile. Naruto will most likely learn something odd and surprising to augment his fighting just as Sasuke will learn more Genjutsu once his Sharingan is unlocked. I need to know what you actually want to do. You could do a great many things. An Iryo Ninjutsu user would greatly help this team but that would leave you as the supposed weak link. Having someone that uses just Genjutsu would also help, but again, you would be the supposed weak link. How do you want to fit in this team?"

Sakura looked down and thought long and hard. How did she want to fit in. She liked the idea of being a Iryo Ninjutsu user, especially since her teammates would always be in the front. Genjutsu also interested her as she like the idea of being able to affect people without having to get up close. Then she looked up with determination in her eyes. "Whats stopping me from doing all of it?" She looked Kakashi in his eye and saw that he was surprised. "I want to be good at Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, and Iryo Ninjutsu. Why do I have to be the weak link? I want to be able to fight with them on the front lines as well as heal and help from the back. " She was determined and he knew that.

"Well then I guess we just have to catch you up to speed, no?" He smiled at her and motioned for her to come over by the stream. Stepping out onto the water, Kakashi motioned for Sakura to follow, wanting to see if she could handle it. She stepped tentatively at first, but soon he saw that she was standing on top of the water, same as him and walking out to him. He nodded approvingly, she was truly amazing with her chakra control. He quickly made a Kage bunshin and sent it over to where Naruto and Sasuke were slowly climbing the tree higher and higher.

"Now, this is the first thing we need to do to catch you up to speed. You lack stamina, chakra reserves, and your taijutsu is sloppy at best. We are going to fix that in the coming days. You will spar with me on the water and we will not stop until you literally can't keep going. This will train your reflexes, stamina, your Taijutsu, as well as your chakra reserves. Are you ready?" He saw Sakura hesitate only for a moment before nodding and rushing Kakashi.

'A team is only as good as their weakest link... and at this rate the weakest link will be the strongest.' Kakashi thought to himself as he ducked Sakura's kick. Kakashi pushed her back, standing up straight as he did so. This was going to be entertaining!

 **XXXXX** One month later, Mission Hall

"Come on Kakashi-sensei! We have been doing D Rank missions everyday since we became Genin! We've done like a hundred of them!" Naruto stared at Kakashi waiting for a response. Kakashi nodded and simply motioned for them to move into the mission hall. Watching as they walked in front of him, Kakashi actually did think they were ready for a C Rank. Hell to be honest they could probably handle a B Rank if they were pressed. Oh, and Naruto was wrong. They had done exactly two hundred and ten D Rank missions. Seven of them a day really set the tone for the whole month. They worked as a unit now. The parameters that he had set for them to follow were never broken once. They had eaten together, slept under the same roof, and had been training together for the past thirty days straight.

He honestly couldn't have been happier with their progress. His team as a whole could perform the tree walking exercise without thinking about it as well as water walking. In terms of control, Sasuke and Naruto had improved in leaps and bounds. Where once they had issues with the control, and in Naruto's case performing the Shunshin, they were now capable enough to perform without hesitation. In terms of chakra capacity, Sakura had improved the most. Still having the least amount of chakra, they were definitely where they should be for her age. She could last on the water sparing for upwards of three four hours and not collapse. Naruto could go for days and Sasuke could only manage about six. She was behind them but not by much. His team was treated as just that; A team. If he taught one of them something he taught all of them the same thing. They knew all of the basics. Basics always save you life in the end anyway.

He had taught them a little bit of everything so far. He hadn't stayed on one subject for more than a week. So he had dedicated a week to Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu, with the first week having been spent drilling the basics into their heads. They all knew one elemental Ninjutsu each. He was not playing games with his kids. They would be ready for anything as well as know the basics of everything. This was to give them a basis to work off of in the future. This would allow them to see what they enjoyed the most as well as what they were best at performing. They were each learning his own personal Taijutsu style. He was the copy ninja, that was kind of his thing. He copied hundreds of styles and had personally constructed one that was based around his own combat style. Now Sasuke was the quickest and easiest to teach this style. It was based on the Sharingan as well as being agile and precise. Essentially, a style that Sasuke would end up using alongside his clan's style. Sakura was slowly picking up on but was having issues with the pauses that the style used. It made sense because with the Sharingan, everything was slowed down, allowing for feints, pivots, and abrupt stops. Naruto on the other hand, was having worst time learning the style. It just was not for him. He was the kind of fighter who got up in your face and broke your bones. Kakashi had set out to creating a style that Naruto and Sakura could use but it was a slow going process. He had a lot of information to sift through.

On the subject of Ninjutsu, he was also proud. Each of them had one jutsu from each of the five elements. As well as jutsu to create shuriken out of each element. He taught them the Katon: Housenka no jutsu(mythical fire phoenix), Suiton: Mizu peretto(Water pellet), Raiton: Rakurai no jutsu(lightning bolt), Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no jutsu(Double Suicide decapitation), and Fuuton: Daitoppa(Great Breakthrough). While the majority of the jutsu were offensive, there was a second reason he had them learning elemental jutsu so early. Having them learn all of the elemental manipulation would allow Kakashi to see what jutsu they were more suited for. A more time consuming way of finding out what kind of natures their chakra would have. He wasn't disappointed at all by what he found out. Sasuke had surprised him slightly. Sasuke had already known the Housenka no jutsu, but what had surprised him was the ease that he had learned and used the Rakurai no jutsu. It had taken him barely a day to get the hand seals down. So Kakashi felt that the boy either had two affinities, which was possible, or that he actually had a Raiton affinity. Sakura had learned the Mizu peretto as well as the Shinjuu Zanshu the easiest, making him think that she had an affinity for Doton or Suiton. Naruto however, had been the most surprising. The boy was the first to learn and only one to master the Daitoppa no jutsu. He did averagely with the Housenka no jutsu and had done a decent job with the Mizu peretto.

Kakashi sighed to himself. These kids probably had more potential than the Sannin. Speaking of potential, Kakashi thought to the week he had spent covering Genjutsu. No surprise when Sakura and Sasuke were the first to pick up on it. While Sasuke wanted to learn whatever he could, he made it very clear that he was not going to be an avid Genjutsu user. It just wasn't his style. Naruto though... Once again poor Naruto had the worst time with the Genjutsu. He had taught all of them two Genjutsu. The first was Kyouboku no Jumon(Spell of trees). The technique allowed for the user to convince an enemy within a certain area that they were simply trees. This technique needed trees to work, and the closer you were to a tree the better it would work. The second was Chousen no Hibiki(echo of defiance). This technique wore down an opponents defense to Genjutsu by attacking one of the five senses. This in combination with Kyouboku no Jumon, allowed for one to completely fool their enemy into thinking they were not there and simply a part of the tree. Naruto learned the techniques easy enough, but executing them was not easy for him. He managed to capture one of his clones in the Genjutsu for a moment but lost control and was quickly found. Naruto sadly, was just not cut out for Genjutsu. He also taught his kids how to detect and break out of Genjutsu. Something that not only every Genin should know, but have drilled into their heads so they don't get killed in the field.

Inside the mission hall, one Umino Iruka was waiting for Kakashi to speak. "Kakashi, what can I do for you today?" A tone of annoyance entered his voice as he noticed Kakashi was lost in thought.

"Iruka, would you mind giving my squad a C Rank please?" All of his kids looked at him like he had five heads. Naruto jumped into the air in joy, Sakura let out a cry of joy, and Sasuke smiled. "Before you say anything, its my call on what they are ready for, they have improved incredibly in their month of training with me, and we have done more than the required amount for them to go on a C Rank." Iruka simply shook his head and frowned. "Alright, I have a simple one for you. Its an escort mission to Nami no Kuni(Wave country). Our client needs a team to escort him so that he may finish building a bridge connecting his country to the main continent. Tazuna! You can come in now!"

From behind them, they heard the door open and a rather plain looking gentleman walked in. He looked like he was probably in his fifties or sixties. He took one look at team seven and frowned. "And this is the group that you expect to keep me safe? The short one looks like he couldn't handle his breakfast! The girl and the moper over there look like they'll be too busy making out to do anything!"

As soon as he was done spouting out his insults a few things happened. One was that Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke all formed up in front of him. The next was that they each held out their hands to their sides and formed different elemental shuriken. Naruto held a fuuton shuriken, Sakura a katon shuriken, and Sasuke a raiton shuriken. They all looked at Tazuna and smiled.

"Now Tazuna, why would you say such rude things to the ones who are going to be guarding you?" The sickly sweet sound behind Sakura's voice made the man take a step back.

Tazuna quickly rectified his statement. "Come now! Can't you kids take a joke? He he he..." He scratched the back of his head and took a few steps back.

"Kids we have a job to do, please try not to upset him. Go gear up. Two weeks rations and provisions, meet at the gate at twelve hundred." A trio of Hai was heard and his kids disappeared in poofs of smoke. Kakashi turned to Tazuna. "Do me a favor and have your things ready to go in the next hour. I would very much like to be on the road before we have no light left." Tazuna gave him a dumb nod and left the hall. Right before Kakashi left he looked back at Iruka and saw a dumbfounded expression on his face. He gave him an eye smile. "I told you they learned a lot. See you in a little while!" With a wave Kakashi was off to wait at the gate.

 **XXXXX** Konoha's gate twelve pm

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all stood at the entrance to Konoha patiently. They had been here for about fifteen minutes and were waiting on Kakashi and Tazuna to appear so that they could get a move on. Naruto moved over to the side of the open gate and plopped down, rather loudly, to the ground.

"Dobe, please stand up. You know they will be here any minute." Naruto's response was to stick out his tongue at Sasuke. Sakura let out a little giggle and went and sat next to Naruto. "Sakura, don't encourage him please!" Sasuke let out a groan and moved over to sit next to Sakura. Naruto and Sakura giggled and Sasuke smirked. They had grown rather close in the months time that they had been a team. They spent all of their time together. They slept at the Sasuke's home almost every night. It had the space, the resources, and was the most comfortable out of the three. It ended up turning into the team hang out more or less.

They trained together, helping each other where the others failed and encouraging each other when they couldn't get it. They all got each other. Being in such a close proximity to one another gave them that insight. Naruto and Sakura found out why Sasuke always tried to be a loner. About his family and Itatchi. They had made a promise on the spot to help him when the time came. Sasuke and Sakura realized that while Naruto was loud, immature, and annoying, he also hid a level of genius that sometimes rivaled Sasukes.

They all learned the ins and outs of what made them tick. They could just as easily calm each other down, as well as rile them back up. Sakura was the best at both, being able to soothe and annoy both Naruto and Sasuke. Sakura, surprisingly, had taken the role of the leader somewhat. Both boys listened to her, and rarely argued with what she had to say. She had proved herself during the month they had been training. While she was still technically weaker than the other two, it would be a close match for any of them at this point considering they knew the same jutsu. And both Naruto and Sasuke knew just how scary she could be when she was mad. So when they went on missions, Sakura usually became the voice of the group. The major thing that had come out of the training was that none of them were alone anymore. They had each other to rely on and they knew that.

Lost in their thoughts about each other, none of them noticed Kakashi and Tazuna walk up and start to leave the village. Kakashi stared lazily at them as he pulled out a little orange book. "Kids would you mind getting up? Its time for us to go." He saw them all jump up and move into formation behind him. He looked back to his work and Lazily drawled out a command. "Diamond position kiddies. Naruto you've got point, I'll take up the rear. Even if this is just a plain C Rank, we will handle this professionally and as if there is going to be more danger." As soon as he was done speaking, they jumped into position. Slowly moving out of the village, all three couldn't help but smile. They were going on a mission. They were being treated like actual ninja. Kakashi could feel their excitement in the air, and he had to say, it was rather contagious. Smiling into his book, they continued on with the rather slow going mission.

 **XXXXX** Halfway to Nami no Kuni, four thirty pm

The road to Nami no Kuni was rather boring. Kakashi couldn't remember the last time he had been on a mission that was this slow. Looking ahead all he saw was road. Tazuna swore three times over that they would be there in the next hour. He had said that two hours ago. Moving at a civilians pace, Kakashi had time to actually observe their surroundings. They still seemed like they were in Hi no Kuni, but he knew they had crossed the border not too long ago. Looking ahead he noticed a peculiar puddle in the middle of the road. 'Oh come on.' He hid it in his book but he was frowning. It hadn't rained in days, and it was getting into the evening, any puddle would have evaporated long before now. Sighing to himself, Kakashi put his book away and waited. He wanted to see how his kids handled an ambush. He felt like they were ready but there was only one way to know for sure.

As they walked over the puddle, Kakashi felt two chakra signatures come out behind him. Quickly being captured in two chains, 'Kakashi' was ripped apart. Yelling out in surprise, Sasuke quickly yelled out, "Alpha!". They sprung into action. Sakura jumped forward and pulled out two kunai as she waited in front of Tazuna, protecting him. Sasuke and Naruto jumped as well, Naruto flipping over one, and Sasuke, the other. Quickly making hand seals, they both called out their Jutsu at the same time.

"Raiton: Rakurai no jutsu!" Naruto and Sasuke aimed at the same person, the one closer to Naruto. A lighting bolt had jumped from two of each of their fingertips, hitting the man once in the back of the neck, and in the chest. The jutsu was not meant to maim or kill, but rather incapacitate or simply injure. The first went down rather easily, his body quickly devolved into a series of spasms. The other yelled in anger and charged Sasuke. As he was about to swing at him however, his right leg buckled and he fell to his knees quickly. Looking to his right he saw Sakura grinning, twirling her second kunai carelessly. Naruto and Sasuke walked up to the second ninja. Nodding to each other, they both swung a fist at him, crashing into each side of his head, knocking him unconscious.

As they tied each of them up, they saw Kakashi come out of the trees behind them. "Well done. I honestly couldn't have expected that to have worked out any better." They all beamed at the praise, rather proud of themselves. "Alpha was executed perfectly. I was very impressed with your accuracy Sakura." Sakura nodded, smiling at Kakashi. One of the things they went over in some of their early mornings was tactics. They had a few maneuvers that they worked in case of an ambush. The first one being 'Alpha'. Alpha meant that the leader of their squad was incapacitated or dead and that they had to take care of the mission. There were no set people for the maneuver, their teamwork was good enough that they knew what their roles essentially were.

"Sasuke, Naruto, take those bodies over by that tree. I'll need to speak with them soon. You," He pointed at Tazuna," You have a lot of explaining to do. You do understand that this mission is now a B Rank? Dealing with enemy ninja was not in the itinerary. I have every right to take my team and leave you here now. Double crossing a ninja village is not a wise move."

Tazuna had the decency to look ashamed."You can't just leave me! I need you! I didn't have the money to afford a higher ranked mission. My village is poor! We are being controlled and manipulated by a man named Gato. He has our country by the throat! That is why I am building my bridge! The money that I paid for this mission was all the money that we could muster up! A whole village, and we couldn't afford a B Rank mission." He bowed his head low in apology. "If you leave me here I understand, nut know that you would be condemning a nation to hell by allowing that man any more time dictating our lives." Tazuna turned and moved a few feet away, feeling that a decision would need to be made.

Kakashi looked over at team seven and saw nothing but determination. He smirked, he knew exactly where this was going. Naruto was the first to speak up. "We want to help him Kakashi-sensei! That's what we are supposed to do isn't it? Help those who can't defend themselves?" Sakura and Sasuke nodded at Naruto, adding credibility to his argument.

Unbelievable. These kids would go into a dangerous situation just to help a client they barely knew. Pretty dumb to be completely honest. But hey, whats the worst that could happen? Nothing could pop up that he himself couldn't handle. "Alright fine. I'll send a message to the Hokage telling him to pick up these bodies and we'll help Tazuna and Nami no Kuni. As of right now, play time is over. I am now your commander and you will listen to what I say when I say it. This is now a B Rank or higher mission and I will not have any misplaced heroics, alright?" He saw his team nod and sent them over to stand with Tazuna. Moving over to the two men who were tied up, Kakashi actually recognized them. The Demon brothers! They were Kiri missing nin 'What are they doing here?' Kakashi frowned and smacked the one that was still twitching.

"Wake up! I have questions...Meizu." He saw Meizu's body stiffen in surprise. Kakashi pulled out a kunai discreetly and held it to the mans throat. "Who do you work for? Why were you after the bridge builder?" He saw the demon brother chuckle and spit at his feet. "Why would I tell you anything?" Kakashi gave him an eye smile." Well I'm glad you asked! Because if you don't, I will slit your brothers throat and make you watch him die." He spoke with an eerily calm voice which unnerved Meizu. "You wouldn't! You need us!" It was Kakashi's turn to laugh now. "No I need one of you. Now talk." The calm was gone, and he flared a bit of his chakra to emphasize his point.

Meizu was clearly uncomfortable now. "Alright stop! Stop! Gato! We were hired by Gato to kill the builder! He knows he is coming and doesn't want him to make it there!" Kakashi frowned. He got his answers so he smacked Meizu in the temple with the blunt end of the kunai. Moving the brothers against a tree, Kakashi tied them to the tree and moved over to his team. Gato knows we are coming. Ready yourselves for combat. There are probably more ambushes waiting and we don't know if there will be more ninja. Diamond formation and lets move out." Team seven moved on once more, heading for Nami no Kuni with a single thought in their minds. What exactly had they just gotten themselves into?

 **XXXXX**

And that's chapter two! I am thoroughly enjoying writing this story. I have to say that after trying so hard on my other one, its nice to just get my own take out on a canon story. One little thing I have to say to anyone who wants to review, please do me a favor and log in if its negative. I can take criticism, what I can't stand is just straight up hate. If you are going to go ahead and leave a review, don't hide behind being a guest. I know that as a writer I'm not amazing, but I can honestly say that this is turning into a hobby for me. I do this to try and improve myself, and if some people enjoy it along the way that's great! I am not here however, to cater to the desires and thoughts of everyone else. I know that I'm not perfect but to just straight up shit on someone just because they don't do things the way you want them is absolute bullshit. My stories, my views, my take on things. End of story. If you don't like it, then don't read it! That simple. Sorry about my little rant but that seriously bugs me. No need to hate on someone for trying to get their ideas out there. Anyway, Ill see you guys next time!

-D.K

Jutsu List:

Katon: Housenka no jutsu(Mythical Phoenix technique)-User spits out multiple fireballs that can also conceal a thrown weapon.

Katon: Shuriken no jutsu(Fire style, shuriken technique)-User forms a shuriken out of said element and can use it as a ranged weapon. Can be held and thrown, or formed and launched

Suiton: Mizu peretto(Water pellet technique)-User spits out a rapidly moving bullet of water the size of a fist that can cause damage depending on where they get hit

Suiton: Shuriken no Jutsu(Water style, shuriken technique)-User forms a shuriken out of said element and can use it as a ranged weapon. Can be held and thrown, or formed and launched

Raiton: Rakurai no jutsu(Lightning bolt Technique)-User focuses chakra to their index and pointer fingers and shoots out a bolt of lightning. Mostly meant to incapacitate or stun.

Raiton: Shuriken no jutsu(Lighting style, shuriken technique)-User forms a shuriken out of said element and can use it as a ranged weapon. Can be held and thrown, or formed and launched

Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no jutsu(Double suicide decapitation technique)-User travels under the unsuspecting opponent and pulls them under the ground where they are then easy pickings.

Doton: Shuriken no jutsu(Earth style, shuriken technique)-User forms a shuriken out of said element and can use it as a ranged weapon. Can be held and thrown, or formed and launched

Fuuton: Shuriken no jutsu(Wind style, shuriken technique)-User forms a shuriken out of said element and can use it as a ranged weapon. Can be held and thrown, or formed and launched

Fuuton: Daitoppa no jutsu(Great breakthrough technique)-User exhales a large burst of wind in a wide area, causing mass destruction, or in some cases, blowing weapons or jutsu away.

Shunshin no jutsu(Body flicker technique)-The user coats their body in chakra and attains speed at borderline the speed of light, allowing them to move distances very quickly. Not meant to be used to travel long distances. Not a space/time ninjutsu.

Kyouboku no Jumon(Spell of trees)-The technique allowed for the user to convince an enemy within a certain area that they were simply trees. This technique needed trees to work, and the closer you were to a tree the better it would work.

Chousen no Hibiki(echo of defiance)-This technique wears down an opponents defense to Genjutsu by attacking one of the five senses.


	3. Nami no Kuni

Well here we go again. I am pumping chapters out like I'm about to kick the bucket. I wasn't kidding when I had said this story is on my mind. I wake up and want to write more! I may have to decide at some point to limit how much I put out in a short period of time considering I don't want to burn my self out. Also to one of my reviewers, Naruto is indeed smarter, but that doesn't mean he isn't still a goofball. He's smarter in the sense that he can actually learn things, instead of needing it to be beaten into his head. Anyway, here is chapter three! Hope you enjoy it!

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and am not planning on making any kind of monetary profit from this story!**

 **XXXXX**

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

 **'Biju thoughts'**

" **Biju speech"**

 **XXXXX The Sage Summoners of Konoha XXXXX**

Kakashi and team seven were on edge. They had an uneventful trip through the rest of Nami no Kuni. They had made it all the way to where they were to be smuggled onto the island. What made them on edge however was the mist that had settled in around them. The boatman had assured them it was normal but it felt anything but normal. As they approached the shore, Kakashi had his eye peeled on the shore. He knew that there was going to be another ambush, he just didn't know where. They beached the boat slightly and filed out onto the beach. Tazuna turned and shook the mans hand, thanking him quietly. After the short exchange of words, Tazuna pushed the boat back out and they all watched the boatman leave.

"Come on, my house isn't much further. Maybe an hour tops." They all sweat dropped at this. He was not the best when it came to figuring out time and distances.

Moving at a steady pace, the mist around them seemed to get thicker. Kakashi had a gut feeling that something was about to happen, and in this line of work, your gut was your only indication sometimes. He watched his kids and saw that they were tense too. They felt the same way that he did and he knew it. As he watched them however, Naruto quickly tossed a kunai to his left and they all heard a squeal. Making a clone, Naruto sent the clone over to investigate and see what was going on. They waited a few seconds before Naruto brought back a white rabbit, stained red with a kunai stuck in it.

Sakura let out a gasp. "Naruto! How could you kill a little rabbit like that!" They may be ninja, but they were all still rather young. Naruto put his hands up in his defense. "Hey, I heard something and I acted on it! What if that had been a guy about to ambush us? I bet you wouldn't be upset then!" Sakura frowned and then looked at the rabbit oddly. "Wait, why is this rabbit white? In this area the rabbits are usually different colors of brown..." Kakashi heard it before he saw it. "Down now!" Yelling at his team, they all dropped, dragging Tazuna with them as a massive sword flew right over their heads and stuck in a tree. They quickly rose as a man jumped and landed directly on the sword.

'Shit.' Kakashi was mentally chiding himself. This was going to suck. The man stood on the sword and looked over team seven and Tazuna. "So you are the runts that took out the Demon Brothers? I have to say, I'm not that impressed." The man took a step forward, falling lightly to the ground. Reaching behind him, he pulled out his massive blade and slung it over his shoulder. He had bandages covering his nose, mouth, and most of his neck. He wore a loose pair of pants, leg and arm warmers colored in an odd pattern, and a sling that he could holster his sword on his back. The man was tall, incredibly strong from the looks of the sword, and was leaking killer intent. The man was Momochi Zabuza, the Kirigakure no Kijin(Demon of the mist).

Kakashi wasted no time reaching up and pulling his hitai-ate up and revealing the Sharingan that rested beneath. He saw Zabuza grin. "So, Sharingan no Kakashi, revealing that eye of yours already? Sorry to break it to you, but that isn't going to stop me from getting that old man."

"Well you're going to have to fight me before you can get to him. Team seven, diamond formation, now! Protect Tazuna! That's the teamwork here right now, understand?" His team jumped into action as soon as he spoke. Naruto was in the back, making one clone as he jumped behind Tazuna. Sasuke stood directly in front of Tazuna, a kunai in his hand, and Sakura was to the left. Thanks to Narutos clone, they had Tazuna completely surrounded and were ready for the missing nin.

Zabuza chuckled. "Kopi nin no Kakashi, the man who has copied one thousand jutsu. I had information about you in our Bingo book. And if you think that your eye is going to be enough to stop me, you are _dead wrong_." As he spoke, Zabuza leaped back and flew through hand seals. Kakashi frowned. 'Kirigakure no jutsu'(Hidden mist technique)

A thick mist suddenly surrounded the area. Team seven couldn't see more than a few feet in front of them, Kakashi was an outline in the mist. They started to panic slightly. They were trained for this! They were ready! But what was the unearthly feeling of dread in the mist!

"He is going to come after me first! Zabuza is a master at the art of Silent Killing. Be on your guard!"

The mist continued to get thicker and thicker when they all heard a voice boom throughout the mist. _"Eight choices. Liver, lungs, spine, clavicle vein, jugular vein, brain, kidneys, heart. Which one should I go for first?"_ As Zabuza finished his little soliloquy, he unleashed a torrent of killer intent, stunning the Genin in their thoughts. All three of them stopped and were shocked by how they felt. They felt like they were truly going to die!

Sasukes hand trembled as he held his kunai. This pressure, this intent! It was too much for him to bear! "Sasuke! I will protect you all with my life. I'm not the kind of person who would let their comrades die." Team seven felt slightly relived at this. They steadied themselves and prepared for battle. As they prepared however, Zabuza appeared in the middle of Sasuke and Tazuna! _"We'll see about that!"_ As he swung his blade, Kakashi was there, stabbing him in the kidney with a kunai. The Zabuza in front of him disappeared and fell to the ground in a splash of water. Zabuza was behind him then, and he cut Kakashi in half with his blade. Team seven let out a cry in surprise, only to visibly be happy when the 'Kakashi' disappeared in a pool of water as well. Zabuza froze in place as a kunai was placed at his throat. "It's over, Zabuza."

"Wow, copied it even in this mist. Now that is impressive. But you're a fool if you think that this is over!" The Zabuza in front of him dissolved and he felt a presence behind him. Ducking as fast as he could, Zabuza just barely missed Kakashi with his swing. That wasn't his plan however. He let his sword swing around and hit the ground behind him, and pushing off the handle, kicked Kakashi clear of land and out onto the water. Kakashi jumped up quickly, trying to get out of the water but Zabuza was there in an instant, flying through hand seals again. "Suirou no jutsu(Water prison technique)!

Kakashi was quickly enveloped in a spherical prison of water and was stuck. Zabuza kept his hand on the sphere and continued to pump small amounts of chakra into it so as to keep Kakashi trapped. "Well Kakashi, I would say its been fun but I would be lying. Now if you don't mind I'll be taking care of your little kids now." Making a Mizu Bunshin, Zabuza sent the clone in to take care of Tazuna. He quickly closed the distance between himself and team seven and stood looking at them. Kids, the lot of them. "Stop playing ninja you brats. You don't have what it takes to be ninja. Now run away and let me have the old man."

Kakashi struggled against the prison, but he couldn't move. "Run! Take Tazuna and get away from here! Our primary goal is to protect Tazuna! His clone can only move a certain distance from his body, now run!" Naruto looked at Sasuke and Sakura and smirked. "What do you guys think? What kind of ninja would we be if we ran away?" Sasuke and Sakura nodded. Naruto made a hand seal, and out popped four more clones who took up position around Tazuna. The three of them stepped forward and took up fighting stances. "Listen up you eyebrowless freak! You are looking at the soon to be most powerful team in Konoha! Team seven is going to show you how we 'play ninja'!"

They jumped into separate directions and had Zabuza at three different angles. Naruto made a few hand seals and unleashed a Fuuton: Daitoppa no jutsu. Naruto being directly in front of Zabuzas clone, sent the clone flying back a few feet before he dug his sword into the ground to steady himself. Sasuke quickly created several Raiton Shuriken and sent them flying at Zabuza as he was distracted by the Fuuton Jutsu. As it ended, the shuriken hit Zabuza in the leg, chest, and arm. Since this was a Mizu Bunshin, the Raiton jutsu stunned him for a few moments. A few moments was all Sakura needed however as she performed the Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no jutsu, pulling the clone down into the ground up to his neck. Sasuke and Sakura then jumped over to where Naruto was and all three of them flashed through hand seals and released a storm of Katon: Housenka no jutsu. They stood there watching as some of the fireballs hit the defenseless clone, destroying it, and sending the rest out to hit the Zabuza on the lake.

Kakashi was beaming right then and there. His kids just proved that they could not only work as a team, but do so on the fly, against an opponent who clearly out classed them. Zabuza, while shocked at the tenacity of the brats, quickly made a few hand seals and unleashed a jet of water from his mouth. This quickly put out the fire but what he hadn't expected was a hail of kunai and shuriken to continue through the water! Eyes widening in surprise, he leaped away from Kakashi and the prison fell to nothing as the storm of weapons flew past them both.

Coughing to himself, Kakashi decided that enough was enough. He rose slowly and saw his team return to where Tazuna was, getting back into the original diamond formation. Zabuza landed a little bit away from where he orignially was, and he was livid. Outsmarted by a few brats who were just playing at being a ninja. "You know, I was really going to let the little brats live. Honestly. But after this little fiasco, I'll make sure they feel just how lost in this world they are." He started going through hand seals and was surprised to see Kakashi doing the same thing as him! They both finished in a few seconds and unleashed Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu(Water dragon projectile technique)! The dragons collided in the middle of the lake, causing a massive explosion of water. Zabuza let out a breath as his frustration got the better of him. 'What is going on!? Can he...'

"Read my mind?" Kakashi finished Zabuzas sentence for him, thoroughly aggravating the man and freaking him out. "Get out of my head..."

"You god damned monkey!" Kakashi once again irritated Zabuza, furthering his plan to make the man flustered. "That's it! I'm going to wipe you out!" As Zabuza flashed through hand seals however, Kakashi was faster, finishing the jutsu and launching a massive spiraling torrent of water that hit Zabuza dead on and flung him through the air and ended with him battered and sitting against a tree. Kakashi landed in front of Zabuza, staring at the missing nin.

Zabuza looked up and saw that damned Sharingan. "Can you see the future?" Kakashi simply nodded, taking out a kunai. "Yes, and I see that this is where you will die." Just as Kakashi was about to slit Zabuzas throat however, two senbon hit him in the neck and he fell to the ground. Kakashi was shocked and looked up to see a hunter nin standing on a branch. "Thank you for your help, I have been tracking Zabuza for some time now and was unsure if I could take him on my own." The hunter nin jumped down and approached Zabuzas body only for Kakashi to put his hand out. "You hunter nin dispose of the body on the spot no? Do you need proof of your kill? I'll be more than happy to assist you." As Kakashi spoke to the nin, he noticed something odd. This nin used senbon to kill Zabuza, and was hesitating to dispose the body... Kakashis eyes widened at the sudden realization as the hunter nin kicked Kakashi sending him away and into a tree. He struggled to stand as he was low on chakra. "Alpha!" Kakashi fell forward, as he covered his eye and tried to rise. The nin moved to where Zabuza was and quickly picked the body up. As he went to Shunshin however, Naruto and Sasuke both used the Shunshin to close the distance between them and kicked the hunter nin. Zabuza fell to the ground with a thud and the senbon in his neck were pushed out slightly.

The hunter nin eyed down the two boys in front of him and the girl still guarding Tazuna. This was not supposed to have happened. The hunter nin was quickly put on the defensive as wave after wave of elemental shuriken were sent his way. He decided that if Zabuza was to survive, use of his kekkai genkai might be needed. He dodged as long as he could and decided against using it now. They may have to fight again and he didn't want to give up his element of surprise. Using the Shunshin in rapid succession, he took several burns, cuts, and stab wounds as he rushed to Zabuzas side and got away.

Naruto let out a growl of frustration and Sasuke huffed. This meant that they now had two ninja to deal with as Zabuza was not dead. Kakashi stood and slowly walked over to his team and Tazuna. "This doesn't bode well for you Tazuna. We don't know how many ninja are working with Zabuza and this could mean that we are severely outnumbered. We need to make it to your home as soon as possible. How far away is it?"

Tazuna frowned. "You kicked their asses! There is no way that they can beat you guys! My house isn't too far from here, maybe half an hour?" Kakashi nodded and motioned for him to lead the way. As he took a step however, he fell to the ground. "Well shit. Naruto can you make a few clones to carry me? I seem to have over exerted myself using the Sharingan." Naruto sighed and made four clones who lifted Kakashi up and started to follow Tazuna. As they moved, Kakashi realized just how badly this was going to go for them. The reason that ninja wars didn't happen that often was due to the fact that once you used your trump card, other ninja could counter it and kill you. So ninjas didn't get the chance for rematches that often. Kakashi knew that whenever Zabuza was ready, he would have a strategy for how to kill him. That meant that he had to train himself as well as his team to prepare for the coming storm. He just hoped that he had enough time to train them.

 **XXXXX**

The hunter nin moved for what seemed like an hour. Once he deemed himself far enough away from the area, he dropped to the ground and inspected Zabuzas body. As he inspected him, a sense of dread filled him. Sticking out of Zabuzas stomach was a single kunai. 'But when did they... no!'

XXXXX Flashback no jutsu!

Kakashi fell to the ground and tried to get up. He saw his kids going toe to toe with the hunter nin and frowned. He couldn't move right now. The Sharingan taking its toll on his body. Looking over at Zabuzas body, he realized that this was his only chance. Taking a kunai, he aimed for his head and let the kunai fly. He misjudged just how hard to throw it however, as he missed completely and hit Zabuza in the stomach. Letting his head slump down, Kakashi frowned. 'That will have to do for now'

XXXXX End Flashback

The hunter nin let out a cry of anguish as he quickly pulled the kunai out and staunched the bleeding. Kakashi had missed the vitals but the bleeding was the issue. Yanking the senbon out of Zabuzas neck, he quickly applied pressure to the wound and went to pull Zabuzas face wrap off. As he reached for it Zabuzas eyes snapped open and he let out a howl of pain. "Arghhhhhh. Damn it! What the fuck did you do!" He tried to roll to the side, to cradle his wound, but the ninja wouldn't let him. "Zabuza they figured me out! Kakashi tried to kill you and I had to fight. The Genin then tag teamed me as I tried to escape with your body. At some point Kakashi or the girl must have thrown a kunai at you to try and kill you. I am stopping the bleeding now but you must sit _still_ damn it!" He forced Zabuza to lay on his back and he finally listened. "Damn it Haku, lets move. We need to get back and recuperate." He tried to sit up and realized that he couldn't move. "Haku..." He saw Haku smile sheepishly. "You won't be able to move for at least another week. Until then I'll have to take care of you." Zabuza sighed and just nodded as Haku picked him up and they moved towards their base. His last thoughts before passing out were of Kakashi. 'Kakashi...When we meet again, I _WILL_ kill you.'

 **XXXXX** Team seven, Tazunas house six thirty am the next morning

Kakashi slowly opened his eyes, examining the room around him. He was looking at a very traditional style home. Sliding doors, decorations, the whole nine yards. He slowly rose and rubbed his head. That fight with Zabuza should not have taken that much out of him. He sighed as he realized he had let his skills stagnate. It probably happened around the same time that he had left Anbu. He rose and went downstairs, walking slowly and carefully. He really needed to start training again. If his kids hadn't been trained as well as they had been, he truly worried about how that fight would have ended up. He entered the living room and saw Tazuna and his daughter Tsunami sitting at the table talking over tea. They noticed him coming down and quickly poured him a cup.

"Good morning Kakashi." Tsunami politely greeted him and bowed respectfully. When they had first arrived all the had done was thank him and bow to him for protecting her father. That had been am interesting night to say the least. Tsunami also had a son named Inari that they had met after they had been introduced to Tsunami. The boy was, uh, polite? He had told them that they were all going to die and that they could never defeat Gatou That hadn't sat very well with Naruto who argued with the boy. The boy had stormed off after that and he hadn't seen him since. Tazuna waved a hand in front of his eyes as Kakashi blankly looked over at him. "I said your kids already went outside! Jeez, you ninja can do all that crazy mumbo jumbo, but you still space out like everyone else." Kakashi thanked them for the tea and went out to go see his team.

Kakashi walked not too far away from the home and into the woods. He felt his students chakra signatures and simply wanted to see what they were doing. As he approached however, he felt their signatures disappear. He frowned as he entered a clearing that he knew they were in. He looked around and slowly smirked. He raised his hands into a seal and released a large pulse of chakra. "Kai!" In front of his eyes, three 'trees' disappeared and their stood his team, grinning like mad, even Sasuke. Sasuke was the first to speak. "How did you like our Genjutsu Kakashi-sensei?" Kakashi let out a low whistle. "I have to say I'm impressed." He looked over at Naruto. "When did you get the Genjutsu down? I know for a fact that you were having issues with this one." Naruto grinned at him. "Well Sasuke and Sakura noticed that I was having issues with it and decided to help me with it. I just put a lot more chakra in it than you normally would. Where they can just focus on a small area, I spread mine out and use more, allowing my lack of control to work for me! I also use the chakra to affect one of the sense as well and it still from a massive distance like you felt." Naruto scratched the back of his head and let out a little laugh.

"I'm impressed with all of you. You handled the Zabuza clone with perfect teamwork using the forms and jutsu you were taught. Each of you played your roles perfectly. Now, not to rain on your parade, that clone was only one tenth the strength as the original. While perfectly executed, that would not have worked on Zabuza himself. You three will not be engaging Zabuza at all, understand?" He received a trio of nods and moved on. "You mission in the upcoming fight will be to not only distract, but to kill or detain the fake hunter nin. Go in with the assumption that this hunter nin is a Chunin or higher. I saw that you two were keeping up with him which makes me assume he is at least a Chunin. Three Genin like yourselves can easily take down a Chunin with the teamwork that you have; However, I still believe that some more training is due so that we can gain the edge in this fight." Kakashi moved over to a tree and made a few seals, making a small wall of dirt rise up out of the ground so that he could sit down. He motioned for his team to come closer.

"Now, what are the basics of the ninja that I have yet to teach you?" Sasuke and Naruto went to open their mouths and stopped. He already taught them Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijustu. What else was there? Sakura spoke next. "We haven't had any instruction in Fuinjutsu, tracking, sensing, and well actually, quite a few more things." Kakashi smiled. "You are right. You are all very skilled for Genin but as of right now, your knowledge is simply a drop in the bucket. I am going to be teaching you a few things, but the primary one for right now is going to be sensing." He stood slightly and made a few hand seals. "Suiton: Kirigakure no jutsu!" A thick mist quickly formed and Kakashi disappeared from sight. Sensing that Kakashi was going to teach them by physically showing them, team seven fell into a triangle formation.

" _Good. The first thing you must learn is that you can't always rely on your own senses to find something. You are a team and each of you will be gifted in different areas. Compliment each others strengths and cover each others weaknesses. The three of you must distinguish where I am using one of the senses besides sight."_ As he said this, three kunai came out of the mist and landed at their feet. _"You didn't hear that because you are trying to rely on your eyes to see me, any attacks, or something that will tip you off to where I am. Now, cover your eyes with your hitai-ate, and try using your other senses to find me."_

Naruto frowned as he blinded himself. This felt uncomfortable to him. Sasuke had a similar issue, being an Uchiha, he was always taught that his eyes are what would make him strong. Sakura, while uncomfortable, understood the necessity of this training. _"Now, consider this a chakra control exercise as well. Slowly move chakra to different areas of your body and increase their abilities. Pump chakra to your ears to hear better, your nose to smell better, your hand or feet to sense vibrations. This is how you fight an opponent you can't see. You take away your sight and rely on your other senses."_ Naruto nodded to himself and pumped chakra to his ears. He was stunned at the amount of noise he heard. He cut the chakra and frowned. "Kakashi-sensei! How am I supposed to hear you when I can hear everything else?" Naruto heard Kakashi chuckle. _"Focus yourself Naruto. Don't let every little noise distract you. Focus on what you want to hear."_ Naruto tried again, only this time, he started to sift through the noises. He heard bugs, the birds, the wind moving through the trees, and even a tapping sound. Wait, a tapping sound? "Kakashi-sensei, are you tapping a tree?"

" _Very good Naruto. Seems that you have a good pair of ears. Sakura, you're up."_ Sakura nodded and slowly focused chakra to her hands. She put her hands on the ground and felt an excessive amount of vibrations. Realizing that he would tell her what he told Naruto, Sakura slowly felt through the vibrations until she felt an anomaly. "Kakashi-sensei, are you tapping your foot in a two, three, two rhythm? _"Again, very good! Now Sasuke, you're turn."_ Sasuke frowned and focused chakra to his nose, enjoying the smells that he was greeted with. He smelt the grass, the trees, sap, his team mates, as well as... Was that smoke? "Kakashi are you burning something?" Kakashi then appeared in the middle of his students. "You all did very well. This is only the first step. We will be incorporating chakra into out search as well. Not only can you use the chakra to increase your senses tenfold, it can also be used directly to find enemies. Pulsing your chakra out and feeling what is there can be a life saver. It isn't really a good method of knowing the details, but being alerted to an ambush even a few seconds early can give you the edge you need to survive. Now we are going to play hide and seek. I'm going to hide in the mist and it is your job to use your senses, your chakra, and even dumb luck to find me. When you can find me within minutes, we will move onto combat scenarios where I will mock up an ambush attempt very similar to our Alpha maneuver. When you can successfully defend yourselves, that is when we will call it a day. So lets get started shall we?" With that being said, Kakashi disappeared into the mist and left his team to suffer through his training.

 **XXXXX** Zabuza and Hakus base of operations twelve thirty pm

Zabuza and Haku sat quietly as they felt a presence approaching their base. Zabuza let out a sigh and Haku frowned. They waited and were not surprised when a shorter man and two thugs walked into the base. The shorter man walked up past Haku and looked at Zabuza.

"Look at you, some 'demon' you are! Not even able to avenge your own friends. Now what are we going to do about the bridge builder eh?" He was met with silence. "Come now, no need to give me the silent treatment!" He slowly reached forward but was stopped as Haku grabbed his arm. "You will not touch Zabuza!" As he grabbed Gatous hand, his two thugs drew their swords and were about to attack. That was before Haku appeared in between the two of them, holding their own swords to their throats. "That is not a good idea. I'm not in the best of moods right now." Gatou had the decency to look embarrassed. "Alright I get it! Come on lets get out of here. That bridge builder better be dead by the end of the week or your welcome here will be cut short!" The coward ran off with his two dogs leaving Zabuza and Haku alone once again.

Zabuza looked over at Haku. "You didn't need to do that. I had it covered." He lifted the blanket he was under to show the kunai that he was about to stab the midget with. "We can't kill him yet Zabuza. Even if he is detestable, he has been keeping the hunter nin off of out backs. We don't need that kind of attention right now."

Zabuza sighed and let the blanket cover him again. "I need a way to recover faster than this. We need to catch Kakashi off guard and end his little team. After that we can handle Gatou and leave here." He closed his eyes and muttered something to himself before passing out quickly. Haku nodded and went to get changed. He had some herbs that he needed to collect.

 **XXXXX** Tazunas house, three days later

Kakashi stood in front of his team, actually sweating. The little brats were quick learners. He had focused on finding enemies with their other senses but they had eaten that up not too long after he had given that to them. He had moved on to using chakra but Naruto had so much of it that he could find him not long after a single pulse. The other two didn't really have the amount of chakra to spam the ability like Naruto had. This led to them using Narutos chakra to quickly find enemies and eliminate them. Or in this case try stabbing him. He had moved onto 'ambushing' them, in hopes of catching them off guard and being able to teach them a valuable lesson, but with Naruto's chakra pulses, Sakura keeping a hand on the ground, and Sasuke memorizing his smell, he was actually having an issue getting to them. So now he stood in front of them, his book in his pouch and his Sharingan out. He was training them and training himself at the same time. He was teaching them the importance of teamwork against a stronger foe, and how they needed to cover each other. They had caught on to this rather quickly as well and he called it for the day.

"You three are doing great. That's my limit for the day however. The Sharingan can be very taxing. I'm going to be resting inside for the rest of the say. You three are to guard Tazuna and accompany him through the village for the rest of the day. Do not leave his side and assist him where he needs it." He waved them off and went to sit inside.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all nodded to each other and ran off to find Tazuna. They found him just as he was going to leaver for the bridge. Sakura yelled out to him. "Tazuna! Wait up!" He turned to them and smiled. "Are you three accompanying me?" They all nodded. "Well I guess that's alright then. Follow me and don't lag behind." They all fell into a triangle position with Sasuke and Naruto on the right and left respectively, followed by Sakura in the back. The kept this position all the way to the bridge.

Once they arrived at the bridge they saw many men working all across the massive bridge. They stared in awe at just how huge this thing actually was. It was wide enough for at least ten men to stand side by side. They stood by and watched as Tazuna stood on the bridge and the bridge became an organized beehive. Tazuna took up the reins and easily led his men around, increasing their productivity. Naruto Sasuke and Sakura all went off to the side of the bridge and waited. They knew their job was to protect Tazuna, but they were honestly bored. Minutes dragged into hours as the sun slowly dipped over its zenith. Tazuna called out and the men working on the bridge returned their tools and started to leave. "Kids! Days over I have to run into town to get some food. If you wouldn't mind following me a little longer?" They all nodded and fell in behind him as they walked towards the village.

As they entered the village, they were shocked by how poor this place was. Beggars sat at nearly every open door. Little boys and girls ran up to team seven and either asked for food or money, or tried to steal from them. They were appalled at what they saw and when they looked up they saw Tazuna looking at them. "This is what Gatou has done to us. He has us by the throat and we suffer. This is why the bridge is a symbol of hope. If we have a land route, Gatou wont be able to just control us anymore." He turned and walked off, team seven not far behind. A symbol of hope indeed.

 **XXXXX** Tazunas house, eight pm

Kakashi looked over the table at his team. He didn't know what was said to them today but they all seemed to have steeled their resolve. He looked over and saw Naruto talking to Sasuke and Sakura about how he was going to take down Zabuza down all by himself. It was at that point however, that Inari spoke up for the first time since they met. "Why don't you guys just quit!? Gatou is going to kill you guys just like he killed everyone else! You're just wasting your time!" Naruto slowly looked up and the sneer on his face let Kakashi know exactly where this was going. "Now listen here you little pansy! I don't care who he has killed! I'm not the kind of person who is just going to back down! We are going to help your grandpa finish this bridge and we are going to make sure that your town will be safe! Don't drag everyone down just because you don't have the heart to hope anymore!" Naruto slammed his fist down on the table and left the house, disappearing to kami knows where. Inari stood there for a few moments before tears rushed up to his eyes and he darted out the door as well. Kakashi sighed and walked out the door slowly, feeling that he had to talk to Inari more than Naruto. Naruto knew better than to go too far. He would see him in the morning he knew.

Naruto walked off into the woods, frustration clearly written on his face. He walked forward until his chakra pulse couldn't reach the house. He then made twenty clones and fell into a fighting stance. His clones wasted no time and slowly whittled down his defenses. As he was about to slip, he made two Fuuton: Shuriken and held them in his hand. Spinning them rapidly, Naruto used them as melee weapons and cut through his clones one by one. This went on for the better part of an hour before Naruto had wasted a decent bit of his chakra and fell to the ground exhausted.

Naruto awoke suddenly when he felt someone standing over him. Looking up he saw a very pretty girl looking down at him. She offered him her hand and he took it, standing up. "Oh, uh, hi there." The girl laughed and bowed. "Hello indeed. What are you doing out here all alone?" Naruto frowned and looked this girl over. Something seemed off about her. "Well I was training and I seemed to have overdone it." She looked at him with wide eyes. "Does that mean you're a ninja?" Naruto grinned "That's right! Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage of Konohagakure!" The girl simply nodded. Naruto realized that she probably had no idea what that was. "Eh, what was your name again?" The girl gasped."Oh, I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Haku. It is a pleasure to meet you Uzumaki Naruto." She reached as she bowed and picked up and herb, placing it in her basket.

Naruto saw that and kept it to himself. There was something he was missing here and he didn't like it. "So what are you doing out here Haku?" She walked a few feet away and picked another herb. "I am picking herbs for a friend of mine who is injured. These herbs will allow him to get better faster. Naruto, may I ask you something?" Naruto was slowly connecting the dots in his mind but nodded. "Why do you fight?" Naruto frowned slightly at the question and thought about that. Originally it was so people would recognize him and so he could become Hokage. Now though, after meeting Kakashi-sensei, Sakura, and Sasuke, he knew why. "I fight to protect those that I love. My friends, my village, all of it." Haku nodded at Narutos answer. "That is truly the only time you are your strongest. When you fight to protect others, that is when you are most powerful. It lets you strive for greatness."

As they spoke Naruto allowed chakra to flow to his nose. What he smelled allowed him to connect the dots. He smelt slightly charred skin, blood, and the flowers in the basket. Naruto frowned and allowed his hand to slip to his side. He didn't let the conversation fall but made seals as fast as he could and held a Fuuton: Shuriken to Hakus neck. Haku tensed and frowned. "You are the hunter nin that we fought! Why are you here? Trying to make Zabuza better? What is to stop me from killing you right now?" Haku kept his hands on the basket he carried and sighed. "I am only doing what I can to protect my loved ones." Naruto was caught off guard, which is all Haku needed to kick him in the chest and flip backwards. Naruto growled at him and went to chase him but stopped as he leaped into the trees and sped away. 'Damn it! Why doesn't this shit ever go my way?' Naruto huffed and went to go back to Tazunas so he could tell everyone that Zabuza was going to be ready sooner than in three days.

 **XXXXX** Tazunas house, one forty pm

Kakashi sighed as Naruto came back and explained what had happened that morning. This did not bode well for any of them. Looking at his team, Tazuna, and Tsunami, he sighed again for the fiftieth time that morning. "Alright here is the plan, We will all be accompanying Tazuna to the bridge for the text few days. Naruto, you will keep ten clones in the house to protect Inari and Tsunami. When Zabuza does indeed attack, we will be ready and do everything in our power to stop them from harming Tazuna. No more training for now. Save your energy and your chakra for the fight that is coming soon. Take the day to relax and meditate. Dismissed." Team seven immediately walked outside together so they could talk over some strategies. Kakashi nodded to Tazuna and Tsunami and went to sit on the deck outside as well. The coming days were going to be hard, but he knew his team could handle it. They had to be able to.

 **XXXXX**

And there is chapter three! Just a heads up to whoever may read this story, I did just cherry pick a jutsu from one of Kenchi618s stories. It was the chakra pulse except in this story its less of a jutsu and just a location thing. Anyway, you should all go check out his stories because they are amazing and very well written. I hope you guys are liking this story! I am trying very hard with this and greatly appreciate reviews of any kind! Until next time!

-D.K

Jutsu list:

Suiton: Suiryuudan no jutsu(Water Dragon missile technique)- The user does a long string of hand seals which cause a column of water to rise and form into a dragon before striking the opponent.

Suiton: Mizu Bunshin(Water clone technique)- The user forms a clone out of water with one tenth the strength of the original.

Katon: Housenka no jutsu(Mythical Phoenix technique)-User spits out multiple fireballs that can also conceal a thrown weapon.

Raiton: Shuriken no jutsu(Lighting style, shuriken technique)-User forms a shuriken out of said element and can use it as a ranged weapon. Can be held and thrown, or formed and launched

Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no jutsu(Double suicide decapitation technique)-User travels under the unsuspecting opponent and pulls them under the ground where they are then easy pickings.

Fuuton: Shuriken no jutsu(Wind style, shuriken technique)-User forms a shuriken out of said element and can use it as a ranged weapon. Can be held and thrown, or formed and launched

Fuuton: Daitoppa no jutsu(Great breakthrough technique)-User exhales a large burst of wind in a wide area, causing mass destruction, or in some cases, blowing weapons or jutsu away.

Kyouboku no Jumon(Spell of trees)-The technique allowed for the user to convince an enemy within a certain area that they were simply trees. This technique needed trees to work, and the closer you were to a tree the better it would work.

Chousen no Hibiki(echo of defiance)-This technique wears down an opponents defense to Genjutsu by attacking one of the five senses.


	4. Nami no Kuni: Finale

What's up guys and girls! It has been a little while hasn't it? I promise that this was not intentional! My computer decided that it didn't want to work anymore and I have been working to fix it for the past few weeks. Luckily, I got it up and running and am going to start pumping chapters out once again! I appreciate the positive reviews and I hope that the time gap hasn't driven any of you away! Without any more distractions, onto the story!

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and am not planning on making any kind of monetary profit from this story!**

 **XXXXX**

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

 **'Biju thoughts'**

" **Biju speech"**

 **XXXXX The Sage Summoners of Konoha XXXXX**

Three days had passed. Three long, stressful, irritating days. Naruto turned away from the edge of the bridge and looked over at Sasuke and Sakura and just shook his head. Ever since Naruto had run into Haku in the woods, Team Seven had been on guard duty. The bridge was almost complete and they knew that if Zabuza was going to make a move, it was going to be soon. The problem was, they hadn't made that move yet.

"Naruto! Hurry up and come here." Naruto turned and started to walk over when a mist started to appear on the bridge.

"Naruto! Get Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura sounded distressed.

Nodding to himself, Naruto focused on the clone that he had left with Kakashi and had it dispel. After dispelling the clone, Naruto ran over to Tazuna and the rest of Team Seven as they took up their basic defensive formation.

"Sasuke can you smell anything different?"

After their training exercise the other day, they had each realized that they excelled in different areas. Sasuke had a much stronger sense of smell, Naruto had a stronger sense of hearing, and Sakura had the best sense of touch. Sasuke frowned and shook his head.

"Nothing that's not normal. How about the pulse?" Naruto nodded and slowly let out a steady pulse of chakra. He closed his eyes and focused. As the pulse rippled out across the bridge, Naruto felt two presences under the bridge. "Sakura, they are under the bridge, is there any way for you to get an exact location for us?" Sakura smiled. She reached down with her hand and used a similar pulse that Naruto used, but instead of allowing hers to stretch out, she tailored hers into the general direction Naruto had said they were in.

Sakura frowned. "They are right below us. They are most likely planning an ambush." 

They all looked at each other and smirked. This excited them and they knew that they were ready. Sakura looked at Naruto and smiled. "I think its time for the Charlie maneuver."

And with that, the battle for the bridge had begun!

 **XXXXX** Zabuza and Haku, Under the Bridge

Zabuza and Haku hung under the bridge silently. As they stood there Zabuza went through the hand signs and unleashed his Kirigakure no jutsu. As the fog slowly rose to encompass the bridge, Zabuza signed to Haku. He saw Haku nod and the two of them split into different directions heading for the top of the bridge. Zabuza silently made his way towards the bridge builder when he saw the genin in their triangle formation, same as when they had first met. 'Ha, this will be too easy'

" _You brats should have taken my advice when I told you to leave. One last chance, leave now and I may let you live."_ He saw the three Genin ready themselves and he felt himself grin. _"Wouldn't have it any other way. Prepare to die fools."_

Zabuza sprung high into the air and landed directly in the middle of the team. "Goodbye!" Zabuza swung with all of his might but a few things happened just as his sword hit the bridge builder. The first was that the Genin team disappeared into smoke, signaling that they were just clones, solid ones at that. The next was that as the sword went through Tazuna, he too disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The final thing to happen was that several elemental shuriken started to fly at him from inside the fog and smoke.

Zabuza dodged as best as he could but he was nicked several times by wind shuriken, due to the extended range they typically had. As he backpedaled, Haku came over to him and stood in a combat stance. He looked straight ahead and saw the Genin team approaching him without the bridge builder. 'Fooled by a bunch of Genin... How embarrassing.'

"Have to hand it to you brats, did not see the clones coming. Whose brilliant idea was that?" He watched to see who would speak up. Zabuza was in no mood to fool around. He had underestimated these children and could have paid the price if they had more lethal techniques. He was going to take out the leader of this group and destroy the morale. Then he would most likely have to torture one of them to see where the builder was.

No response from the group came and he sighed. "So much for being civil then eh?"

"We are past being civil with you Zabuza." Zabuza looked on with annoyance as Kakashi shunshined over to where his team was. "Now, Gatous thugs have been taken care of, Tazuna and his family are being guarded by my clones and Narutos. You stand no chance of winning. Back down now and we will let you walk away from this."

Zabuza started to laugh. Then it turned a bit hysteric. "Oh that is rich! Well let me tell you something Kakashi; You are all going to die. Haku, take care of the Genin. Come help me when you are done." With that Zabuza rushed Kakashi.

 **XXXXX** Team Seven vs Haku

As Zabuza and Kakashi clashed, Haku slowly walked towards Team Seven . Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all tensed. This was not going to be an easy fight.

"So do we have a plan at all? Or are we going in blind because I am okay with winging it." He watched Sakura sigh and Sasuke smirk.

"Naruto, just don't go off the wall alright? We need each other to beat this person. We need to see what they are capable of and we can go off of that." Naruto nodded and he and Sasuke rushed Haku. As they approached him however, ice needles suddenly shot out of the mist and hit them in the legs, tripping them both up and landing them on their faces.

"You three are foolish to interfere with Zabuzas plan. I am sorry but I am going to have to dispose of you now." Haku quickly made hand seals and unleashed a torrent of water at the three of them. Naruto and Sasuke took direct hits, pushing them further back on the bridge. Sakura had the sense to jump over it and landed a few feet from Haku.

"We fight because it is our mission to protect Tazuna! Why would you guys willingly help Gatou cripple a nation? That makes no sense to me." She watched as Haku bristled at her words.

"You know nothing about Zabuza! You know nothing of what we have had to endure! I wouldn't expect some fresh genin to understand the world. It is a cruel place out here. If you don't protect the ones you love, you will lose them. Once you are alone, this world is a hell." Haku took out senbon from his pouch and got into a fighting stance. As he did so Naruto and Sasuke ran up to Sakura. Sakura looked over at Naruto and Sasuke and nodded to each as they rushed Haku together.

 **XXXXX** Kakashi vs Zabuza

Kakashi ducked underneath Zabuzas swing and jumped back, panting. This was not an easy fight. Zabuza was even more aggressive than he had been during their first fight. He had not resorted to any of his techniques but seemed hell bent on cleaving him in two with his sword. Kakashi dodged yet another swing and kicked Zabuza in the stomach, driving him back afterwords with some kunai swings.

"You realize that this is pointless? What does Gatou have on you that is making you do all of his dirty work?" Zabuza growled and proceeded to launch a fury of swings. Kakashi had a hard time keeping up and when the assault was close to its end, Zabuza slashed Kakashi across the chest. Kakashi backed up swiftly, holding his new wound.

"You say pointless, I say means to an end. I am using Gatou to further my own goals. I'm sure you know of my coup d'etat, how I failed. I will go back and finish what I started but I need money, man power, and political backing. Gatou has all of those and all he wants is this bridge builder dead. You are trying to tell me that one old man is worth more than a whole country of people? I am a demon Kakashi, but I love my country." Zabuza snarled and rushed Kakashi again. As he ran however, he held his hands up and the mist suddenly got thicker, hiding his movements from Kakashi.

'Not good...' As he tried to formulate a plan, Zabuza appeared in front of him. He kicked out as he jumped back, but Zabuza continued to go after him. Kakashi reached up to his hitai-ate, pushing it up. Time seemed to slow down as the Sharingan came into play. Zabuzas swing was aimed at his head, but Kakashi knew where it was. Leaning back almost to the bridge, Kakashi put his hands behind his head and leaned into it. As he did this, the blade went right past him, leaving Zabuza wide open. Kakashi lifted both his legs and delivered a double kick right into Zabuzas face, landing on his feet after he did so.

Kakashi moved swiftly towards Zabuza in an attempt to disarm him. As he got to where he should have landed however, he was gone.

"I really hate this mist..."

 **XXXXX** Team Seven vs Haku

"Damn it!" Naruto roared as he swung at Haku once again. He was taking on all three of them at once and none of them got to hit him. To be fair, Haku wasn't hitting them either, focusing more on dodging than attacking. As they clashed briefly, Haku jumped back and stayed crouching.

"I'm afraid it is now time for me to end this. None of you have the speed necessary to escape my next technique." Team Seven prepared themselves but were utterly surprised when a huge dome of mirrors appeared around them. Even worse for them was that Haku appeared in every single mirror.

"No one has lived through the Makyo Hyosho (Demonic mirroring ice crystals). I am sorry but as I said, this is now over." They saw all of the Hakus take out senbon and start to throw them out rapidly. Team Seven did the best that they could but no matter where they tried to block, senbon found their way and hit them. They felt their movements becoming sluggish, their reaction times dropping, and they slowly started to lose consciousness.

"Start pulling the senbon out if you can! We need to melt these mirrors!" Sasuke was having a hard time standing as he yelled to his teammates. He flashed through the hand seals and unleashed a Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu. As the fireball hit the mirrors, Sasuke was dismayed to see that it had no effect. Naruto and Sakura moved closer to Sasuke and prepared Katon: Shuriken in their hands. Sasuke could see Haku moving but he needed to slow him down somehow! As he saw Haku prepare another barrage, something happened. Time seemed to slow down! He saw Haku move to the mirror directly to their left and realized that he hadn't made clones, he was moving faster than they could normally see!

He wasted no time making his own Katon: Shuriken and throwing it to his left, right at the real Haku. To his great pleasure, the Shuriken hit Haku right in the mask as he came out of the mirror, scorching his mask and sending him back into the mirror reeling.

"I can track his movements! Prepare your Katon: Shuriken and wait for my signal." He saw Naruto and Sakura prepare them and step forward. As they did though, Sasuke saw something. Haku was aiming right for Naruto! He saw the way he was aiming and it was right for the throat! Sasuke didn't know why but his body was just automatically moving as he pushed Naruto out of the way and was hit with a barrage of senbon.

Naruto flopped forward as he was pushed but instantly got up to see if Sasuke was okay. The sight he saw made his heart drop. Sasuke stood their with his arms limp, eyes glossing over. Naruto and Sakura rushed to his side both yelling out as he fell.

"Sasuke! Why did you do that you idiot!" As he spoke to him, the mist around them got noticeably thicker. "I could have taken the hit! You know that I heal faster than you guys!" Naruto had tears forming in his eyes. Haku saw that he had demoralized them and had taken a step out of the mirror towards the fallen Genin.

Sasuke looked over to Naruto and gave him an honest smile. "I did it to protect you I don't know why I did I just moved. Make sure you and Sakura...beat...him...," as Sasuke spoke he suddenly went limp.

Naruto went white with rage. He felt something bubbling up within himself and suddenly, chakra exploded from him. Sakura was thrown backwards as the chakra pooled around Naruto like a protective coat. Naruto started to scream in rage as the chakra overloaded his senses. He looked ahead and all he saw was Haku. Naruto lunged forward at a speed that Haku could not follow and slammed his fist into the boys mask. As the mask shattered, so too did the mirrors around him. Haku was so caught off guard that he couldn't even roll as he flopped across the bridge like a rag doll. Naruto felt the power surging through him and slowly walked towards Haku. He was going to make the boy pay.

 **XXXXX** Kakashi vs Zabuza

Kakashi and Zabuza both froze as they felt an overwhelming chakra burst forth from where the kids were fighting. Kakashi felt the chakra and started to panic. 'Oh kami no. Please tell me the seal didn't break? No not broken but activated... I need to end this now'

"Zabuza I hate to spoil your fun but I have to end this now." Kakashi pulled out a scroll, sliding his blood along it as he unrolled it. He held the scroll in his mouth as he went through the hand seals.

"Kuchiyose:Doton: Tsuiga no jutsu!(Summoning:Earth Release:Tracking fang technique)"

Zabuza had heard Kakashis claim and scoffed at it. The fight would end when he decided it would and he had decided right then and there that it was time. As he went to rush Kakashi, he heard something odd. The sound got louder and louder and before he knew it, he was begin held by several dogs that had burst out of the ground. They latched onto his legs, arms, and shoulders, holding him down. He frowned as he felt the Kirigakure no jutsu slipping.

"Its over Zabuza. Your future is death." Kakashi flashed through hand seals and held his right hand down with his left as lightning formed over his hand. Kakashi started at a light jog, but proceeded into a full sprint with full intent on killing Zabuza. The fight was over.

 **XXXXX** Naruto vs Haku

Naruto stalked towards Haku with malice in his eyes. He didn't just want to hurt Haku, he wanted to kill him, maim him. He rushed towards Haku and slammed his fist into his gut as he lay on the ground. The boy let out a scream as Naruto continued to lay into him, ending the vicious combo with a kick to the ribs that sent him flying. Haku tried to stand but was only able to rise to a knee, coughing up blood as he did so.

"Kill me. I have failed as a tool. Zabuza doesn't need a broken tool." Naruto stopped just feet away as Haku spoke. He looked down at him and he frowned as a hint of sadness came over him.

"You are more than a tool Haku, why would you think otherwise?"

Haku sighed. "Zabuza saved me. He told me he had no use for anything but a tool that would serve him loyally. I have failed in that regard so therefore I am now useless. So please, kill me so that I do not have to face that shame" Naruto pulled out a kunai and out it to Hakus throat. He held it there for a moment, not sure what to do.

" I killed your friend! Why won't you do it? He died to protect you and you can't even avenge him?" Haku saw Naruto slowly get more and more angered. He smiled, it was working. Just as Naruto was about to slash Hakus throat, they both heard what sounded like chirping birds. They turned to see Kakashi rushing towards an immobile Zabuza. Hakus eyes went wide as he pushed his body to move. Haku rose quickly and headed for Zabuza. Naruto let out a gasp and saw her going to where Kakashi was. Naruto did not know that he was planning on sacrificing himself to save Zabuza however. He thought that Haku was attacking Kakashi. Without thinking, Naruto let loose his kunai aiming right behind Hakus knee. Narutos aim was true, just before Haku was able to intercept the Raikiri, the kunai hit Haku right behind the left knee and he collapsed just feet from where Kakashi stood, with a Raikiri through Zabuzas chest.

"NO!" Haku let out a guttural, primal yell as he started to sob hysterically. Haku rolled around on the ground as he tried to come to terms with what he just saw. Zabuzas body fell to the ground as the ninja dogs disappeared. Haku slowly dragged his body over to where Zabuza was. He climbed over his chest and looked into his eyes, despair slowly taking over his heart. They were lifeless. Haku let out a pitiful moan as he sank into Zabuzas arm and cried his heart out.

Kakashi sighed as he watched the boy, feeling a nagging sense of guilt building up within him. This boy was the last of his problems however. Turning around, he ran in his teams direction to see what had happened. As Kakashi approached Naruto he saw the boy kneeling on the ground looking down. Naruto looked up at him and he saw that he was crying.

"Kakashi-sensei, I didn't know we had to kill them. I mean I know that that is our job but," Naruto struggled with the words, not knowing what to say. Kakashi leaned down and put an arm on his shoulder.

"We are ninja Naruto. We deal in pain, misery, and death. We have our mission and they had theirs. Its not personal, but we couldn't let them kill Tazuna. You know what was at stake here. This is your first time seeing death, but just know that it gets easier to deal with over time."

Naruto nodded and looked back at Sasuke. Sakura had gotten back to his side after she had been flung away by Narutos chakra. Kakashi and Naruto walked over to where Sasuke was and knelt by his side. Naruto felt tears welling up in his eyes, feeling that it was his fault.

"Good...job..."

Naruto and Sakura both were gaping like fish as they looked down and saw Sasuke with one eye barely open smirking.

"Sasuke!" Naruto and Sakura both jumped on the poor boy as they proceeded to smother him, being a tad bit over zealous seeing how he couldn't move.

Kakashi gave them the infamous eye smile as he looked on with pride. First C rank mission and it ended up being an A rank... What a way to truly kick off their careers. This pride was short lived however, as the temperature suddenly dropped, bordering on freezing. Kakashi turned and got into a fighting stance. Kakashi was taken aback by what he saw in front of him. Haku rose silently from Zabuzas corpse, Kubikiribocho in hand, surrounded by what looked like frost. A light colored mist surrounded Haku, he was visibly struggling with the weight of Kubikiribocho. He picked up his head and looked right at Kakashi. The sight continued to shock him.\

"No more. I will be caring no more. If I had listened to Zabuza and simply killed your Teamhe would still be alive and you would all be dead. I will never make that mistake again. I only have one purpose in life now. That is to avenge Zabuza. You will die Kakashi, and it will be by my hand, with this blade."

Just as it seemed Haku was going to rush him, they heard the sound of clapping. They all turned to the far side of the bridge and saw Gatou with what looked like hundreds of men. The little man had a grin on his face, and started to laugh.

" Well, well, well. Look what we have here boys! Looks to me like a group of ninja ripe for the killing! Ha ha ha ha ha... Looks like your boy Zabuza there couldn't hold up his end of the bargain. Therefore, your contract is canceled. Oh, and we'll be killing you and taking his sword too. I need a trophy to remember you by."

Gatou proceeded to laugh and laugh and laugh, until the temperature dropped below freezing. Haku was visibly shaking as he tried to hold back what was happening. When he looked up, Gatou saw glowing frost blue eyes staring back, and he suddenly regretted what he had just said. Haku took a step forward, ignoring Team Seven , hoisting Kubikiribocho over his shoulder as he did so.

"Gatou, you miserable, insane, greedy, unfortunate fuck! You will die on this bridge, and I will personally chop you into pieces." Haku wasted no time, pulling out a handful of senbon and throwing them right at the group that had gathered. Five men fell to the ground with a needle directly through their iris. Gatou took a step back, five more men died. He turned to run and Haku appeared right in front of him.

"I am your executioner, filth."

Gatou started to speak but was cut short when Haku slammed the blade right onto his skull, and through his body. The two pieces of Gatou slid off in both directions as a mass of blood splattered onto Haku. The men around Haku looked visibly panicked as Haku licked the blood on his cheek.

Haku chuckled. "Too greasy for my taste." And with that, the Nami no Kuni massacre began.

Team Seven looked on in horror as the once soft boy proceeded to become a monster. Haku wasted no time after killing Gatou and had begun swinging his blade with gusto. Man after man fell, with no end in sight the rest of the group had tried to gang up on him. What happened was truly astounding. The mist that had surrounded Haku began to freeze any man who got too close to him. They would slow down, freeze in place, and then turn to ice. A truly fearsome ability. As the fight came to an end, Haku seemed exhausted. He finished the last man and instantly jumped over the bridge and disappeared from sight.

Kakashi sighed. That was one more enemy to add to the list. He picked up Sasuke and motioned for his team to follow him. Their mission was still active, but it was almost over. They could afford to relax. Kakashi sighed again as they walked. Life was getting interesting again.

 **XXXXX** Nami no Kuni, Bridge of Hope

It had been one week since the fight with Haku and Zabuza, and the bridge was finally complete. Tazuna and his family, along with the rest of the village stood at the entrance to the bridge to see Team Seven off safely. Naruto and the others stood in front of Tazuna, smiles and grins on their face.

"You three, thank you so much for your dedication and effort in helping us. There is a debt here that can never be paid. Now, I've prepared a little gift for the three of you." Tazuna snapped his fingers and a box was brought up to him. He took and and turned towards the three. "We are still very poor, something we will remedy soon, but we have scrounged up some things and made you these."

Tazuna opened the box and inside were three rather mediocre kunai. They were not normal kunai however. They were made in the shape of an anchor, wrapped in a red cloth for the handle with a chain design on the cloth.

"Consider this the first thank you that we can give you. We hope that whenever you see those you will think of us." Tazuna then bowed very respectfully, as did the rest of the village.

Naruto grabbed his as Sasuke and Sakura grabbed theirs. They held it and felt how it was very well balanced. They smiled together and put it into their pouches. Then they too bowed respectfully. Naruto looked over and saw Inari crying. As they made eye contact, Inari hid himself away. Naruto walked over and pulled him out.

"You know it's actually a good thing to cry when you're happy! It means that whatever happened really made a difference in your life. Never forget that!" Inari smiled and just nodded as he wiped away some left over tears.

Kakashi looked at his team and smiled to himself. 'Time to go.'

"Alright I hate to do this but we've got a bit of trip guys." Team Seven joined their sensei and the four of them proceeded to walk away from the bridge, back towards Konoha. They waved as they walked and after a few minutes they were out of sight.

Tazuna turned to his village and grinned. "You know, I never gave the bridge a name..."

Inari lit up like a light and smiled. " I know what we can call it! We should call it the Great Naruto Bridge!"

The were murmurs behind them, nodding in agreement. Tazuna smiled. "It's settled then! The Great Naruto Bridge! Now come on! We still have a lot of work to do!" Tazuna smiled as he looked at his people. They were happy. This truly was what they needed. 'Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, this debt will never be forgotten. I promise."

 **XXXXX** Team Seven , Konoha three days later

Kakashi sighed as Konoha came into sight. Three terribly boring days on the road. They had kept at a rather decent pace, but his team wanted to keep training, to keep getting stronger. While he applauded their tenacity internally, the constant breaks had extended their trip another day. He hadn't taught them anything too serious, just some basic tracking and how to hide their tracks themselves. They ate the training up and had asked for more but he had to tell them no. He shook his head. He knew he was going to make them strong but at the rate they were going, they would be Jounin before they were sixteen.

They walked through the gates and saw Konoha's famous gatekeepers. Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu. Izumo looked like a typical Chunin, wearing the typical flak jacket and dark blue pants and shirt. His brown hair was combed down and covered his right eye, as well as having a bandanna style hitai-ate. Kotetsu was dressed similarly, but had spiky black hair and wore a normal hitai-ate. The two greeted Team Seven and smiled.

"Yo Kakashi! What's up? You have a Genin team now?" Kotetsu sounded incredulous. Izumo just smiled. "It's about time you took a team Kakashi. Hope to see them become strong defenders of Konoha."

Kakashi nodded. "Team Seven reporting back from their C-rank turned A-rank mission." Kakashi just barely hid his giddiness as the two of them both looked at his team like they were a rare issue one Icha-Icha paradise.

Izumo whistled low. "Well I'll be damned. First A-rank after only being a ninja for what, a month? Two? Man, you kids are starting out early. The Hokage was expecting you four two days ago. Hes expecting you." Kakashi nodded and ushered his kids forward.

"Kakashi sensei who was that?" Naruto looked back briefly to see the two cracking up at something.

"Those two are the eternal gate keepers of Konoha. Kamizuki Izumo, and Hagane Kotetsu. Whenever you come back from a mission you are to check in with them so that they can keep track of who is in the village. Unless something extremely dire has happened, you should never ignore them."

Naruto nodded to himself and fell quiet as they made their way to the Hokage's Tower. As they went through the doorway, he saw that things seemed busier than normal. Shrugging it off, he continued to follow until they came to the mission hall. The Hokage made it a point to assign the lower ranked missions himself at least once a week. He felt that it was an obligation.

Kakashi walked up to him and bowed as he handed over a scroll. "Team Seven reporting back from their C-rank turned A-rank mission." The Hokage's eye brows rose as he read the scroll.

"Team Seven, you have served this village admirably and will receive a bonus equivalent to the risk this mission entailed. No Genin should have to fight multiple missing nin on their first mission out of the village. As such, I will be giving you one weeks leave to do with as you please." The Hokage handed a scroll over to the Chunin to his right who went over to the vault and pulled out four envelopes. He then handed them to each member of Team Seven before bowing and going back to his paperwork.

"That is an A-rank mission pay, as well as an extra B-rank worth of pay for the circumstances. This will be recorded on your record as an A-rank mission as well as a B-rank mission. Amazing work, all of you. Oh, Naruto, why don't you take your team and go get some ramen on me. I need to speak to Kakashi for a few moments." Naruto looked up with an awestruck face and just nodded as he walked out the door, looking at his paycheck. Sasuke and Sakura just sighed and followed him out.

"Kakashi, meet me in my office." The Hokage proceeded to shunshin out of the room, Kakashi not far behind him.

 **XXXXX** With Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura

Naruto proceeded to gulp down his fifteenth bowl of ramen as Sasuke and Sakura looked on with horror. He slammed it down and let out a sigh of delight.

"Awe man! I don't remember the last time I had ramen! Old man, let me get one more bowl, put it on the Hokage's tab!" Teuchi grinned and slammed another bowl in front of him. "Of course! Anything for my favorite customer!"

Sasuke just looked on with amusement and bewilderment. He had never seen someone eat as much as Naruto just had. Sakura however, looked on with a different feeling in her gut. She had waited long enough. She needed to ask Naruto what that chakra was on the bridge.

"Naruto, can I ask you something?" Naruto stopped mid slurp and look at her. " O...f c...ursh Sha...kura." Sakura sighed. " Finish your food first please! Hasn't anyone ever taught you any manners?"

Naruto finished his bowl and looked at Sakura. "What's up?" Sakura took a deep breath and looked him dead in the eye. "What was the chakra that you used on the bridge? After we thought that Sasuke had died?" She saw Naruto stiffen immediately.

"I, uh, can't tell you about that." Sakura let her mouth hand open in shock slightly. "We are friends Uzumaki Naruto! You don't keep secrets form your friends!" Naruto frowned but seemed to mull it over in his head. "I can't tell you here. Lets head to my apartment and I will explain it there." Sakura nodded she and Sasuke followed Naruto out of Ichiraku.

Naruto was sweating bullets. He hadn't realized that Sakura had seen his burst of anger. Now he had to think of a way to explain it without revealing that he was a Jinchuuriki. As he walked up to his apartment, Naruto noticed that his door was opened! Rushing forward, Naruto saw that his landlord was packing up all of his things!

"Oi! What the hell are you doing? I still live here!" Naruto was about to explode. He did not have much to call his own and this asshole was packing it up like it was junk!"

The man turned around and had the decency to look embarrassed. "I uh, thought you were gone. You haven't paid your rent in three months so I assumed that you were not coming back." He scratched the back of his head and chuckled.

Naruto was seeing red. "Gone? Three months? The Hokage pays my rent! And where did you put all of my clothes? My pictures? My goggles? What the hell!" Naruto took a step towards the man, malicious intent quite obvious.

The landlord put his hands up. "Hey, hey, hey! Easy now! The Hokage hasn't paid your rent since you became a ninja. Told me himself that it was time for you to take on more responsibility. Don't take it out on me! Go see him and get the details. I threw your jumpsuits away. The regular t-shirts and shorts are in the box in the corner, and the box on top of that is where all of your other belongings are. Sorry to tell you, but you don't live here anymore. You knew the policy. Two months no rent, you get evicted. I even gave you an extra month. Sorry kid, you have to take your stuff and go. I'm renovating." With that, the man proceeded to ignore Naruto and go back to cleaning the apartment.

Naruto stood there slack jawed. He was homeless. That was a first. He walked over to his boxes of stuff and grabbed the two small boxes and walked out the door, walking right past Sakura and Sasuke as he did.

"Naruto, you have to tell us!" Sakura went to grab him but he just kept walking, looking at the ground as he walked. "Naruto?" He turned briefly.

"I don't live here anymore. I've been evicted. I have to go find a place to live." Sakura looked shocked. Even Sasuke had a vague look of surprise on his face.

"Why did you get kicked out?" Sakura seemed to have forgotten about the question she had wanted to ask.

Naruto shrugged. "Old man forgot to tell me I had to pay my own rent and I haven't paid in three months. So now I have to go see if I can find a place to stay."

Sasuke snorted. Naruto rounded on him. "What? You think this is funny? I am homeless you ass! What the hell am I supposed to do? I thought you were a friend damn it."

Sasuke frowned. "You do have a place to stay. You can stay in the compound with me until you can afford your own house. Ass." He stood there, arms crossed, with a smug look on his face as Naruto floundered with something to say.

Naruto sighed, and then smiled. "Thank you." Sasuke just nodded and they started off towards the Uchiha compound, Naruto now quite happy that he wasn't homeless.

XXXXX

Kakashi stood in front of the Hokage in his office, a wave of nostalgia washed over him. This felt too much like business; like it used to feel when he was the Anbu Captain. He looked the Hokage in the eye and realized that this was business, and by the look on the Hokage's face, serious business.

"I'm sure you're wondering why you are here Kakashi. Well there is a very serious matter that I need attended to and you're one of the only people I can trust with this." Hiruzen turned slightly and snapped his fingers. Kakashi looked to the corner where there was a shimmer and out stepped Jiraiya of the Sannin. Jiraiya smiled and nodded to Kakashi as he stood next to the Sandaime.

Kakashi looked at the two of them. "Alright, whats going on? The last time Jiraiya was here was years ago. What happened?" The two men looked at each other and Hiruzen motioned for Jiraiya to explain.

Jiraiya took a deep breath and sighed. "Alright, here's the gist of it. There is a political party that has formed here in Hi no Kuni. They call themselves the True Sons of Fire, and spout nonsense of fire cleansing them and how they are going to help cleanse this country of those who are impure. The thing is, they're actually a huge hit with the civilian population. They are slowly infiltrating the smaller courts around the country, and before long, will begin to bid for some of the more powerful positions. They are being backed by some extremely wealthy and shady people. I could only trace one of their benefactors and it led me back to a now deceased Gatou. I believe you two had met no?"

Kakashi was shocked. "What does this mean for me? Why does the musings of a civilian group bother you so much? It doesn't sound like they've been trying anything lately."

Jiraiya shook his head. "No, I have found evidence, and traced it back to one of my sources, that they also have ninja. They have been recruiting from our village and whatever missing nin they can find. That means that as of right now, Konoha has moles, and we don't know how many there really are. This means that this group is not just planning on taking the Daimyos portion of Hi no Kuni, but ours as well. As I said, they have the masses support as of right now. Or they are building it up I should say. The problem we have is that there are rumors that Orochimaru is somehow involved with this group. If he is, that could very well mean that he is going to make his bid on Konoha."

"Okay, that's all well and good, but what is my role here?"

The Sandaime spoke first. "Power play. We have to let these cultists understand that we are not to be trifled with. This is typically a type of mission Danzo would have handled back during the Third Great War, but we are not graced with his Root ninja as of right now." The Sandaime took out a scroll and passed it to Kakashi, who took it with not so eager hands.

He opened it and skimmed the details. Eye going wide, he looked at the Hokage incredulously.

"Assassination? When is the last time Konoha felt the need to assassinate anyone?"

The Sandaime just sighed. "This man is the only link that we have to this group. Yoshihiro Kiro is an influential man in the south of Hi no Kuni. He has valuable information that will lead us to more of this group. You have one week to find this man, extract the vital information he has, kill him, and get back to Konoha. This is not an optional mission. On such short notice, you are one of the few people that I can trust. No flashy techniques. They are not to know who you are, but leave this on the body." The Sandaime handed Kakashi a silver leaf.

"That is used by many a mercenary group around Hi no Kuni to let those close to the deceased know that their loved one was killed by someone important. It isn't a direct link, but they will figure it out."

Kakashi sighed. "What about my team? They need to keep training or they will try something stupid."

Jiraiya grinned. "Don't worry Kakashi! I will take care of your cute little Genin while you're gone. Teach some of the basics, save their lives, you know, the good stuff." Jiraiya gave him a cheeky grin, Kakashi just shook his head.

"Kakashi, do not fail me on this. This is bigger than just Konoha right now. Go! And let the Will of Fire guide you." Kakashi nodded and shunshined out, not sure how this was going to play out.

The Sandaime sighed. "You think he will be okay? It has been quite some time since hes had a mission like this."

Jiraiya shrugged. "He has to be capable of handling it or we are all in trouble. Where are the kiddies anyway? I figured I might as well go see Naruto."

Hiruzen took out his crystal ball and pumped his chakra into it. Right away he saw Naruto unpacking a few boxes into a spare room of Uchiha Sasukes home. This caught him by surprise.

"Uchiha compound. Im sure you can find him. Oh, and Jiraiya? Nothing dangerous please. I don't need Kakashi attacking me when he gets back because you endangered his Genin."

Jiraiya laughed. "No promises!" And with that, he had jumped through the window and was off.

Hiruzen sighed, taking out his pipe and packing it perfectly. After lighting it he took a puff and sat back. He felt his years now more than ever. He really needed to find someone to replace him. He mulled Jiraiya around in his head but decided that he didn't want it. 'Oh well. I guess the hat is mine for a little while longer.'

 **XXXXX**

Well damn I have been gone longer than I had hoped! I once again apologize for my extended absence and hope that it doesn't happen again! About this chapter, it was actually quite difficult to me to write. It had been a little while and I am trying to get down my writing style. So, sorry if it seems choppy or all over the place. If you have any advice, let me know in a review! As always, constructive criticism is the best way to grow as a writer. Until next time!

-D.K

Jutsu list

Kuchiyose:Doton: Tsuiga no jutsu (Summoning:Earth Release:Tracking fang technique)

Suiton: Kirigakure no jutsu (Hidden Mist technique)


	5. Intro to Summoning

Oh boy, the inspiration is back! I have so many ideas for this story now its ridiculous! I actually don't know how I am going to put it all in in a cohesive way. Anyway, do me a little favor, if you guys are enjoying this, leave me a review with something you like and something that you don't like! It will really help me as a writer and it will help me form a more cohesive and flowing story. Thanks a lot! Onto the next chapter!

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and am not planning on making any kind of monetary profit from this story!**

 **XXXXX**

'Thoughts'

"Speech"

 **'Biju thoughts'**

" **Biju speech"**

 **XXXXX-** Character change

XXXXX- Scene change

 **XXXXX The Sage Summoners of Konoha XXXXX**

A hooded man walked quickly through the wooded area, moving with the smoothness and quietness that only a trained shinobi would be able to achieve. He walked to a large tree in a clearing and knocked on the trunk three times, paused, and then five more times. After he had done so, a portion of the trunk slid inwards and then to the side, leaving an opening just big enough for a man to squeeze through. The man quickly turned around and went in backwards, descending down the ladder that was just inside the trunk. The small opening closed as he entered, and he was engulfed in darkness.

Moving with a trained motion, he descended quickly. 'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.' He counted silently in his head and as he hit ten, his foot hit the floor. He spun around and walked fifteen steps forward, paused, and then reached his right hand forward. He felt his hand hit a door. He knocked two times, then four, and then two again. He heard a grunt and the door slid open, revealing a large, circular room. The man entered the room and stood silently as the door slid closed.

The room was filled with a large circular table made of a fine red oak. It was stained a dark color and seemed quite old. The room was quite dark except for a candle in the middle of the table that illuminated just the features of the men that were gathered at this table. Moving forward swiftly, the man took his spot at the empty table.

Looking around, he saw the five other members of this little group. Four men, and one woman. As he pulled his chair in he greeted them in a smooth, practiced way.

"Greetings, fellow brothers and sisters, I hope that all was well getting here?" He smirked as he felt the others get annoyed. He was several hours late. 'Oh well.' He thought. He had been conducting an experiment when he had received the summons.

"Salamander, you are extremely late. When there is a summons, you are expected to be here on time. Do you understand?"

Salamander rolled his eyes. "Yes Dragon. It will not happen again." The response was practiced and as smooth as butter. He heard Dragon sigh and the candle in the middle of the room got dimmer, hiding the features of the others even more.

Dragon stood and cleared his throat. "It has come to my attention that the True Sons of Fire have been discovered by Jiraiya of the Sannin. This is a hit that was not expected. What is worse, someone on this council leaked the information purposefully. Now, I don't know what any of you are playing at but we all had a plan! We were to slowly usurp control from the Daimyo and then in one fell swoop, overthrow him, implant a decoy, and plan our war against Konoha. So, in light of these treacherous revelations, we have moved up our plans." He turned to the only woman there. "Tiger, you are now tasked with implanting Yoshihiro as the southern governor of Hi no Kuni. I don't care how you do it, but he is necessary for our plans. You are now tasked with defending him and getting him into position."

Tiger nodded and leaned back, relaxing slightly.

Dragon turned to the bulkier man next to Tiger. "Lion, you are now tasked with infiltrating Konoha. You are to do it under the disguise of a civilian blacksmith selling his merchandise. Go see our fence, he will have the paperwork, cart, and clothing. Once you are in, you will begin to map out the villages defenses, as well as their military strength. You will find important targets as well as high ranking political civilians as well."

Lion nodded and sat back as well.

Dragon spun to the rather unassuming man next to Salamander. "Bear, your new task is to recruit some mercenaries or missing nin that will be able to harass the Konoha shinobi when they go out on missions. They are expendable so don't worry too much about the quality. Once you have them hired set them up along the major roadways in and out of Hi no Kuni, as well as on the crossroads around the country."

Bear snorted and sat back. "Of course I get the boring job." His voice was gravely.

Dragon looked next at Salamander. "Salamander, your new mission is to ensure that the Kazekage will not back out of our agreement. Given the circumstances, he may decide that it was an error to join forces with us. If need be, kill him, go undercover, and impersonate him until the plan is in effect. Do not fail me, Salamander. You are becoming a problem as of late and I don't need another problem, are we clear?"

Salamander nodded. "As crystal. I know my role in this, just as you know that I only joined your group to further my own goals. We need each other for the foreseeable future. So until that future is here, You need not worry about me." He leaned back and grinned, his teeth seeming to gleam in the candlelight.

Dragon tensed slightly before turning to the final member of the group. "Phoenix, your task is to continue harassing the Konoha Anbu. Whenever possible, ensure that they are discovered, injured, or killed. We need to make Konoha look as weak as possible for this Coup to work."

Phoenix nodded and rose. As Phoenix rose, as did the others. They all bowed and shunshined out, all except for Salamander and Dragon.

Dragon took off his hood and looked Salamander right in the eye. Salamander obliged the man and took his own hood off, revealing yellow slit eyes, and pale skin.

"Orochimaru, what are you doing? I know you are the one who leaked the information. Are you betraying us? After all that we have done to help you? You and your so called village?"

Orochimaru just chuckled. "It was meant with no disrespect but I needed to distract Jiraiya and my old sensei from my trail. They were getting too close and that was the only thing that I had that would get them away from me. Don't worry, the plan will work regardless. I'll make sure of that."

Dragon frowned and let out a large amount of killer intent. "I have not worked for ten years just to have you ruin it to cover your ass. We both know that we need each other so just put up with this for a little while longer. Or else we will truly find out which one of us is the stronger one."

Orochimaru laughed. "Well I look forward to that day if it ever comes. Until then however, enjoy your stay in Hi no Kuni. I'll be heading to the desert now. See you in a few months." With that Orochimaru shunshined out as well, leaving Dragon to his thoughts.

'We will see indeed.' He then shunshined out himself.

 **XXXXX**

Jiraiya stood inside the Uchiha clan district laughing to himself. He had arrived in the area not even a minute ago and came upon quite a funny development. Naruto was cornered by the wall, with Sasuke and Sakura herding him into a specific area of the district. Naruto seemed to be holding his jacket tight in his arms. Jiraiya laughed and decided that it was probably time to intervene.

 **XXXXX**

"Naruto just give up the jacket!" Sakura huffed and made a grab at Naruto's jacket.

Naruto jumped back and made two clones. "No! This is the only one I have! Why are you guys doing this to me? I neeeeeeed this!"

Sasuke sighed. "Naruto for the love of kami, what kind of ninja wears an orange jumpsuit? Let us burn the damn thing and I will personally buy you a new wardrobe. You seriously need it!"

Naruto stood there, back against the wall and sighed. He was currently wearing a black pair of cargo shorts, and his white t-shirt with the symbol for the will of fire on it. He looked at his jacket, and then back to his team.

"Can it have some orange in it?"

Sakura and Sasuke both fell backwards as Naruto just sweat dropped. "No!" As Sakura yelled no, Sasuke proceeded to get past the two clones and grab the jacket from Naruto.

"You bastard! Wait!"

With no hesitation, Sasuke proceeded to use a Katon: Shuriken to shred the jacket as well as burn it to bits. They then proceeded to hear a cry that sounded inhuman as Naruto dropped to his knees, and rolled over, sobbing to himself quietly.

"Naruto come on. We can go get you new clothes now. You'll actually look like a shinobi! We will all get new clothes on Sasuke!" Sakura grinned at Sasuke as his mouth hung open in shock.

"Now hold on just a...ooof!" Sakura railed Sasuke in the side as he tried to say no. Coughing slightly, Sasuke managed to choke out a response.

"Yeah...clothes are on me..." Sakura went over to Naruto and tried to get him up. At that moment however, something odd happened.

A man appeared behind the group and started to speak.

"Hello kiddies! It is I the great..." Jiraiya didn't get to finish his monologue due to the fact that he had three different kinds of elemental shuriken flying at his face.

Even Naruto had been up and in combat mode as soon as Jiraiya had spoken. Naruto was also the first to talk.

"Who the hell are you? What do you want?"

Jiraiya just looked at them incredulously. "You little brats! I was just trying to introduce myself to you...jeez..."

They all stayed in their combat stances and this time Sasuke asked the question.

"Who are you and what do you want?" A Katon:Shuriken was in one hand as he was prepared to throw it.

Jiraiya laughed. "You guys are really cute. Thinking that you can take on Jiraiya of the Sannin but if its a spar you want I can oblige you."

Sasuke took a step back. He knew who Jiraiya was. Hell, anyone who was anyone knew who the three Sannin were.

Jiraiya gave them a cheeky grin. "That's right! It is I, Mount Myobokuzan's sage, the man who saves the kids and makes women call out his name. It is I, the one that men aspire to be and all ninja fear, the great, the mighty, Jiraiya!" At the end of his spiel he stuck his hand out, standing with his legs far apart to add to the effect.

'This is Jiraiya of the Sannin?' Both Sasuke and Sakura had the same thought. Naruto however...

'So cool!'

Jiraiya grinned at the reactions. "Alright, well let me get down to business. Kakashi was sent on a week long mission outside of the village. You three couldn't go with him and I have been tasked with training you for one week. So!" He clapped his hands together and motioned for them to follow him.

XXXXX

They came out to training ground seven, the same training ground Team Seven used before their mission. Jiraiya looked at the post and smiled, memories from the past filling his mind with nostalgia. He rounded quickly on the kids and smiled.

"I don't know if you three realized, but you are a continuation of a very powerful line of shinobi."

The three looked at Jiraiya oddly. "What do you mean?" Sasuke spoke carefully.

"Well, The Shodaime and the Nidaime trained the Sandaime. The Sandaime in turn, trained the Sannin. Myself, Tsunade, and Orochimaru. I personally trained the Yondaime, who in turn, had a Genin team that had Kakashi on it. Your teachings have descended from Hokages from the past. A culmination so to speak. You should feel honored. The Will of Fire was strong with every shinobi of this line and I believe from what I have seen and heard that you will be a perfect example of Konoha shinobi."

Team Seven was all shocked. They hadn't even realized that they had such a renowned sensei! And the fact that their sensei was trained by the Yondaime... He never told them that!

"Now, what do you three wish to learn? Consider this a very potent opportunity. I am a very good teacher if I do say so myself. You have one week with the sensei of a Hokage. Use your time wisely. So what will it be first?"

Sasuke didn't even hesitate. "Summoning. The Sannin are well known for it and I believe it to be a skill that any shinobi should would die for."

Naruto and Sakura started to protest but Jiraiya spoke first. "He is right you know. Summoning isn't something that any shinobi can pull off. There are very specific requirements to a summoning contract. The first of which is that if you don't have a preexisting contract, you wouldn't be able to summon anything."

"So how do you get a contract?" Naruto scratched his head, confused on how that would work.

"A few ways actually. The first of which is that the owner of said contract allows you to sign it. The second is if you are a part of a clan and you have a specific summoning contract. There is a third way but it was pure luck that it even happened so I don't consider it a valid way to work. Anyway, the most I can do for you is to teach you the hand seals and maybe some theory but that seems rather boring..." He looked up and saw that Team Seven had lit up like beacons. He chuckled.

"Alright so maybe its not that boring. Okay so the seals are..."

XXXXX

It had been almost four hours and Team Seven were honestly having fun. Jiraiya was jovial man who liked to joke around. He had left them alone to do research for about an hour but he came right back. They had no idea he was a scientist or something. They had practiced the seals while he spoke. He explicitly told them never to use the jutsu without a contract as it was extremely dangerous. This brought up more questions however.

"Wait, Jiraiya-Sensei, how did you get your contract?" Sakura asked.

Jiraiya laughed out loud. "Well, you know how I told you not to do the jutsu without a contract? Well I did. It acted as a teleportation jutsu, and moved me thousands of miles away to Mount Myobokuzan. It was there that I met the Toads and formed the contract I now have. After I came back with my summoning contract, Orochimaru and Tsunade both did the same thing. The fools. Their summons almost killed them when they appeared. That's why it is so dangerous. The summons on the other side are not always going to be so kind and just hand you a contract."

Naruto looked at Sasuke and Sakura and grinned. Sakura's eyes went wide. "Guys no..." It was too late however and Sakura could only sigh and keep up. Flashing through the seals, They all slammed the hand on the ground.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

Jiraiya turned around at the name of the technique and looked on with horror as all three were now gone.

"Shit... Sensei is going to kill me..."

 **XXXXX**

Naruto groaned as he rolled over. He looked up and saw a thick canopy above him, sending waves of light and shadow all around him. He stood up and looked around. He seemed to be in a jungle of some kind.

'Okay so maybe this was a bad idea'

Naruto jumped up to a tree and started to climb it. As he did however, there was movement in the corner of his eye. He back flipped just in time as something huge barreled into the tree that he was standing on and shattered it to pieces. As he well, Naruto prepared two Fuuton: Shuriken and held them at the ready.

Naruto landed and got a look at what was attacking him. It was a gorilla. Easily eight feet tall, the gorilla was of a darker color. Not black but more of a dark gray, with a large silver patch on its back leading up to its head. The ape looked at Naruto and let out a massive roar. It charged him on all fours and as it neared him, reared up and tried to smash him onto the ground with his massive arms. Naruto back stepped and rushed forward, slashing at the arms with his Fuuton Shuriken.

The ape cried out in pain as blood rushed out of the wounds. He howled in pain as the blood continued to flow. It backed up and looked up with rage in its eyes.

"You will pay for that human." A gravely, baritone came from the ape and it charged the surprised Naruto. Naruto had been so shocked that he didn't have time to react and was hit by the gorilla, which knocked him into a tree. He was shocked at how hard the gorilla actually hit. He was short for breath when the ape was standing over him.

"You are done human." He rose his arms up high and was about to be crushed when another voice spoke.

"Gorijan! Enough!" Naruto looked up and saw an even larger gorilla enter the area. He was pure black with silver streaks not only on his back but on his arms as well.

Gorijan stepped back and put his head down.

"Gorioka... I meant no disrespect I only wanted to..." He was cut off as he was punched, sending him sprawling back.

"You only meant to kill the first human to visit us willingly I get it. You know the rules and the boss will be very upset to hear that you tried to kill him." Gorioka then looked at Naruto and spoke softly for a gorilla that was twelve feet tall.

"I apologize for Gorijan. He does not like outsiders at all. Can you walk?"

Naruto tried to stand and found that he actually couldn't. He shook his head and was shocked when he was picked up by Gorioka and placed on his shoulder.

"You have to meet the others. They will judge you and decide what will happen. What is your name little human?"

Naruto sighed. " I am Uzumaki Naruto. Where am I? I didn't mean to come here."

Gorioka laughed, it was a deep thundering sound. "No one usually means to come here Uzumaki Naruto. Nonetheless, you are here and there are consequences to that. I hope you are prepared for what is coming. I do promise however that the odds will be much fairer if you are given another trial. Rest for now, we will be home on a short time." With that, Gorioka jumped up and started to hop from branch to branch, much similar to what a shinobi would do.

XXXXX

Naruto was brought very swiftly to a massive ruin. It was bigger than even the apes that were around him. Naruto was brought before a massive empty throne. The throne being carved of what looked like marble, as well as having moss hanging from every part of it. Naruto looked around and saw apes of all shapes and sizes. The apes that were closer to the throne were significantly bigger than Gorioka. The ones standing directly next to the throne were easily fifteen to twenty feet tall. Then, Naruto felt it more than he heard it. A thunderous thump. Then another, and another. Naruto looked up the stairs behind the throne and saw the biggest ape come out of the massive entryway. He was the biggest ape that Naruto had seen. He was a pure white, the silver covering his body almost impossible to see. He also wore a golden crown with red jewels adorning it. He also held what looked like a pipe in his left hand as he slowly descended down the stairs. He was easily thirty five feet tall, the scars over his body let Naruto know that this ape was a fighter.

The ape sat in the throne and leaned forward, looking at Naruto.

"So...You are the human? The one that wounded Gorijan? Hm... You don't seem like much."

Naruto was mad. "Well I am more than I appear! And your Goriwhatever attacked me first! I was only trying to figure out where I was!

The Ape laughed, it managed to shake the ruin. "You are fiery. I like that. You are in the Shinpi Janguru(Mystical Jungle). I would very much like to know how you came to be here, seeing as the closest human settlement is thousands of miles from here."

Naruto sighed. "I am a shinobi. I used the Kuchiyose no jutsu without having a contract and it teleported me here. Not even ten minutes here and your friends attacked me."

The ape nodded sagely and gave a look to Gorijan. "That is not how that should have happened. I apologize for his behavior. I am Kingugori, and I would like to extend my welcome to our lovely home. However, you are the first human to not only see me, but our home as well. To ensure that you do not try to bring your people here, you must pass our test. If you manage to do that, we will send you home and you won't have to die."

Naruto had his mouth hanging open. "How is that fair? I mean I get that I'm trespassing, but it was an accident. I mean all I wanted was a summoning contract."

Kingugori looked at Naruto more closely now, seeming to have connected the dots in his head. "Wait, you are a shinobi? The ones that use the same techniques as us? You are trying to bind us to you? Oh, boy, that is a different test entirely. That involves proving that you are strong enough to be our partners, not our masters. Do you think you can handle that? Same consequences. If you fail we kill you."

Naruto just sighed. If he was going to die if he failed, then he might as well get a summoning contract out of it. Naruto looked up with determination in his eyes and nodded. Kingugori hooted and howled and clapped his hands together once, sending a shockwave through the crowd. The center of the circle that Naruto was standing on rose up about ten feet and stopped. Kingugori snapped his fingers once and a six foot tall gorilla appeared in the ring with Naruto.

"Rules are simple! There will be a series of challenges by my kind. You must knock them out in whatever way you can. If you get knocked off, you lose and we kill you. If you defeat three of mine in a row, we will discuss this contract of yours. Deal?"

Naruto nodded and prepared himself. The gorilla in front of him seemed young, meaning he might be rash and think that he could defeat him easily.

"Hajime!"

The young ape wasted no time and rushed directly at Naruto. Naruto backpedaled swiftly and almost went right off the edge. Forgetting that they were in a ring, the gorilla swiftly approached Naruto. Naruto panicked and dove forward as the ape swung at him. His legs tripped the ape who fell out of the ring.

Naruto scratched the back of his head as he heard Kingugori sigh. "Next."

The next ape was of a similar size as the one Naruto just fought, but seemed more composed, older somehow. The ape did not rush as soon as the match started, but waited patiently for Naruto to make the next move. Naruto realized this and made two clones. He heard the apes hoot and holler as they were surprised. Even the ape fighting Naruto was surprised.

Naruto took advantage of the surprise and started and onslaught of clones. The clones were consistently battered aside and dispelled, but each clone that launched an attack forced the ape further and further back, until the ape was at the edge of the ring. Naruto saw the opportunity and dove headfirst at the ape through the smoke of the dispelled clones. He hit the ape directly in the head and he fell backwards off the ring.

Naruto grinned and went back to his starting position. His grin disappeared as Gorijan stepped onto the ring. He gave Naruto the nastiest look and charged before Kingugori said to start. Naruto was quickly on the defensive, dodging the swings as they came. He tried to swing back once but was swiftly battered to the other side of the ring. He struggled to get up, the hit from earlier still affecting him.

Gorijan rushed him again, grabbing him by the leg and bashing him into the ground several times before tossing him to the side where he started. Naruto rolled all the way to the edge and hung limply over the edge. Pushing himself beyond what even he thought he could handle, Naruto slowly rose to a knee, staring the ape down with a sense of determination.

Gorijan was clearly annoyed. "Why do you continue to fight? There is no reason for you to continue. You can not win here. I am bigger, stronger, and faster. There is no way that you can win!" Gorijan proceeded to walk up to Naruto and look at him.

Naruto chuckled. "I have a dream you idiot. I am one day going to become the Hokage! And I can't die here or that won't happen! While you may be bigger, stronger, and faster, you're not smarter!"

As Naruto yelled smarter, he dove to the side as two of his clones drop kicked Gorijan on both shoulders, forcing the ape to stumble forward. The clones fell and dispelled, and Naruto, limping and battered, walked over and punched Gorijan in the ass. Gorijan fell forward and out of the ring.

Naruto was met by silence... and then an uproar of cheers! Naruto grinned as he fell backwards, landing on his back. He was about to pass out when Kingugori spoke.

"Your determination, your drive, little human, is inspiring. I honestly believed that you would perish here but it appears that that is not to be. Come, let us talk through the terms of this contract and perhaps we can make this work.

Naruto grinned and held up a thumbs up as he was carried over to Kingugori.

'I hope Sasuke and Sakura had an easier time...'

 **XXXXX**

Sasuke woke up suddenly. He stood up in a combat position and studied his surroundings. He was covered in what looked like...ash? Soot? He had no idea. He looked around and saw massive volcanoes in the distance. The sky was dark and the ground was full of cracks and crags. Sasuke took a step forwards and was instantly burned as hot air forced its way through the crack.

Moving back to where he originally was, Sasuke realized he was in quite a predicament. Sasuke tried using the Kuchiyose to summon himself back but it didn't even try to take the chakra. Sasuke looked in the distance and saw what seemed to be a line moving in the sky. As the line got closer however, Sasuke realized that it was an animal, something that saw him and was coming right at him. Sasuke felt the pang of panic rise up, but he quashed that feeling instantly. Sasuke waited for whatever it was to arrive, a Katon: Shuriken in his hand out of instinct.

Sasuke did not have to wait for long as the floating serpent descended and landed right next to him. The beast was long and scaly, as well as a dark gold in color. It had two arms as well as two legs although the legs were way further back on the body. The beast was easily sixty feet long. Its face had two long whiskers stretching out from the jaws which were also very large. Sasuke took a step back. He realized that he was looking at a dragon.

The dragon took a step forward and sniffed Sasuke. He moved back and tilted his head to the ground, speaking as he did so.

"Greetings human. Do not fear me, I mean you no harm. We have had visions of your arrival. Please, climb onto my back and I will take you to see the king."

Sasuke just nodded dumbly and jumped onto the dragons back. He felt a sense of nausea as the dragon quickly floated off the ground and spun back in the direction that Sasuke saw him come from. This day was getting weirder by the minute.

XXXXX

Sasuke was very quickly brought to the center of a cluster of Volcanoes. Laying in the center of what looked like a massive caldera, was an even bigger dragon. It was completely black in color, with small tints of red along the body. The dragons size was massive, seemingly two hundred feet long. Sasuke couldn't tell as the dragon was coiled up around something in the center of the caldera.

The golden dragon dropped Sasuke off right in front of the dragon. The massive creature opened one eye as Sasuke bowed in respect. The beast snorted, and Sasuke was nearly blown away by it.

"Welcome Uchiha. You have come, as the visions of the elder has foretold. My name is Ryujin, I am the king of the dragons, and the one that you will be speaking to considering the contract."

Sasuke was extremely confused. "I don't understand. How do you know me? How did you know I was going to be where I was?"

The dragon smiled. "Our elders possess the ability of sight. They can see into out future so as to direct us in a way that will keep us from extinction. You were a part of this vision. The boy with the fan on his back. He who will show his power of flame and wield the blade. That is you and you have some proving to do."

Sasuke frowned." Look, I don't understand what is going on here but I need to get back to Konoha. You know of a way to do that so help me." Sasuke activated his Sharingan, two tomoe in each eye.

The dragon laughed at him, uncoiling itself and rising into the air as he did so. "Little Uchiha, you don't command the king of dragons. A mistake I will let pass only once."

As the dragon rose Sasuke saw what was sitting in the middle of the Caldera. It was a katana. Sasuke approached the sword but was stopped as a blast of fire landed right in front of him. Looking up at the dragon, enraged, Sasuke dropped into a combat stance.

"You must prove your worthiness boy. A technique of fire that rivals my own. If you do not possess that ability, then you are not the boy of the visions. So, show me. Show me your fire."

Sasuke slowly started to amass fire chakra in his lungs. He knew that this had to be a massive fireball. He breathed in deep and launched the biggest Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu that he could manage. The biggest one that he had ever been able to muster launched itself forward at great speeds. Sasuke looked up at Ryujin and smirked. The dragon shook his head however and opened his mouth slightly.

"You fail, young Uchiha. That was not impressive at all. I apologize for the disrespect."

Sasuke snapped. "Well why don't you show me what kind of fire I need to have! You know nothing about me!"

Ryujin rose slowly and turned away from Sasuke. "Watch closely, boy. You will have more chance after this."

Sasuke quickly activated his Sharingan and studied the chakra the dragon was moving around. Ryujin breathed deep and let out a steady stream of fire that suddenly twisted into itself and turned into a massive fireball. After finishing, Ryujin turned to Sasuke.

"Last chance."

Sasuke frowned. The amount of chakra it would take to pull off that technique would most likely kill him. Sasuke shrugged. If he was going to die, it wasn't going to be by dragons fire. Sasuke slowly built up the chakra he needed. He twisted it in his lungs and compressed it, building it up more and more until it was about to burst. With a roar, Sasuke turned towards Ryujin and launched the stream of fire. It twisted and coiled, until finally, it formed into a fireball almost as big as the dragons.

'Shit...' Sasuke realized too late that he was going to expend all of his chakra. He put the last bit of effort into cutting off the technique. As it ended, Sasuke fell to the ground, completely spent. The fireball he had concocted hit Ryujin squarely in the face, knocking the dragon back. He roared as his face was now covered in ash.

Sasuke looked up to see Ryujin not even ten feet from him, growling. Then suddenly, he picked Sasuke up with one of his arms and dropped him in the middle of the caldera, right near the katana. Sasuke reached up and grabbed a hold of the katana. He suddenly felt strength return to him. He stood on his own and drew the katana out of its saya. Sasuke looked at the detail on the blade and felt that this blade was made for him.

"Kaen Birukatana (Flame Building Katana). The sword was forged long ago by the only other human who had visited out land. He was very old, and poured his very life into the blade, giving it its abilities. We know nothing of the sword besides that it can store chakra. Uchiha Sasuke, you have proven yourself the way the elders said you would. Climb onto my back, once we visit the elders, we can create the contract and get you back to your home.

Sasuke attached the saya to his hip and climbed onto Ryujin. The sword at his hip resonating with how he felt. Power, he felt power. Sasuke smiled as the dragon rose.

'Perhaps today wasn't so bad after all.'

 **XXXXX**

Sakura groaned as she rose. She looked around and saw nothing but dark. She seemed to be in a forest of some kind. She held her arms as she walked forward through the dark. As she walked she suddenly heard a hoot. She jumped slightly as she put her back to a tree and waited. Not too long later another hoot.

'Owls?'

Sakura did not have to wait long. Almost immediately after she thought of owls, one appeared directly in front of her, a small light glowing on its head. The owl was slightly bigger than Sakura and appeared to be curious.

Sakura was freaking out, but tried to remain calm. "Uh...hello there...Mr. Owl..."

The owl tilted its head to the side. "I am a Ms. Owl thank you very much."

Sakura literally screamed after the owl spoke. "You can talk!?"

The owl giggled. "Of course we can talk! I wonder why you are here though... Is it to meet the queen? Or are you on a vacation? What is your name?"

Sakura relaxed slightly, feeling that the owl meant her no harm. "I am Haruno Sakura. I come from a place called Konoha. What is your name?"

The owl hooted once more. "Ooooooh you want to know my name? Okay, but you have to answer a riddle first!" The owl seemed excited as she bounced from foot to foot.

Sakura nodded and the bird got serious. "Okay. What has rivers with no water, forests with no trees, and towns with no buildings?" The bird let out a hoot as she hopped backwards a bit.

Sakura thought for a moment.

'Rivers but no water...forests with no trees...towns with no buildings...' The answer hit her like a ton of bricks.

"A map!"

A joyous hoot was the response as the owl hopped over to her and nuzzled her shoulder. "Yeeees! So smart! My name is Auruhime. It is very nice to meet you Sakura! You have to come with me and meet the queen! She will absolutely love you!"

Auruhime bent over a little and Sakura managed to get onto her back, holding onto her feathers. The flapped her wings, and darted through the forest at an incredible speed.

XXXXX

Auruhime flew for what seemed like ten minutes before she suddenly rose up and flew through an opening in the trees. As they rose, a mass amount of light temporarily blinded Sakura. When she opened her eyes she had no words for what she saw. A massive tree rose far above the others, with many different colored lights all over it. On top of the tree was a very potent pink, shining far in every direction. Auruhime rose higher and higher, taking her right to the top of the tree.

She dropped Sakura on a small platform and flew over to where the queen sat. The queen, sat in the middle of the tree. She was a massive owl. Where Auruhime was a light pink, the queen seemed to be a dark pink, bordering on red. She wore a small crown on her head and had several golden chains decorating her wings. She looked at Sakura and hooted.

"And who might you be?"

Auruhime answered first. "That is Haruno Sakura. Shes from Konoha. Can she summon us mom please? I want to see the world!" This was all spoken in the span of ten seconds.

The queen seemed to laugh. "You are very excited dear I understand but you know we already have a summoner. It is quite rude to have multiple contracts."

Auruhime huffed. I don't like him! He never summons any of the bigger owls. He only uses us as messengers! That isn't right and he isn't good at riddles like Sakura!"

At that revelation, the queen eyed Sakura very carefully. "I happen to love riddles..."

Sakura saw her opportunity and seized it. "Well I happen to love riddles as well! How about a little bet?"

The queen leaned forward. "I'm listening..."

Sakura took a breath. "You ask me three riddles. If I can't answer your riddles you send me home and nothing changes. If I can answer them, you allow me to create a second contract with you that your other summoner doesn't have to know about. Deal?"

She seemed to think for a bit before hooting and nodding. "You have yourself a deal. No need to waste time. How far can one run into the woods?"

Sakura cringed slightly. She had expected a bit of time to prepare.

'How far can one run into the woods?'

The queen hooted as she stood there happily chirping. Sakura was thinking as hard as she could but the riddle didn't make sense!

'You can run all the way through the woods...!'

"Halfway! If you kept running you would be running OUT of the woods!"

The queen hopped happily as did Auruhime. "Oh very good Sakura! Okay, I am the beginning of the end, the end of time and space, I am essential to creation, and I surround every place. What am I?"

Sakura thought for a moment and sat down on her little platform. She put her hand on her chin and ran the riddle through her mind again. A few minutes past, but Sakura stood excitedly.

"Its the letter e!" Sakura let out a happy yell as she got it.

"I like you very much girl. Only one more and we can create that contract. What asks but never answers?"

Sakura grinned. She knew the answer to it right away. "An owl." Sakura was greeted once again with happy hoots.

"Sakura, my name is Aurujoo, queen of the owls. We would be honored to have you as our summoner."

Sakura bowed respectfully and smiled.

'Can't wait to show the boys'

 **XXXXX**

"What do you mean they are gone!" The Sandaime roared at Jiraiya. He slammed his hand on the desk and brought out his crystal ball. As he started to use his spying techniques, there were three puffs of smoke in his office. As the smoke cleared, there stood Team Seven, in varying degrees of injury.

Jiraiya let out a sigh of relief, as did the Sandaime. That was not a conversation he wanted to have with Kakashi.

"Kids, what happened? I need recollections of the events that just happened."

The Sandaime motioned for them to sit and that is when he noticed that each of them had something different on their persons. Sasuke had a katana, Sakura had an earring, and Naruto had an entirely new outfit. As they sat they looked at each other and laughed. After they had settled down, they each in turn went through the events that had happened to them.

At the end, the Sandaime couldn't help but laugh at the similarities between this Team Seven, and the one that he trained into the Sannin. The laugh spread to Jiraiya, the irony of it not lost upon him.

"So just to recap, you each managed to acquire your own personal summoning contracts, within eight hours?"

Team Seven nodded.

"And each of you were given a gift by your respective summons as a reward for passing their tests?"

Another round of nods.

"I am thoroughly impressed by you three. You continue to build yourselves up like this and I have no doubt that your future will be great. Now that you have summoning contracts, there is no reason as to why Jiraiya cannot teach you three how to use them properly. Seeing as he is quite a good teacher, and somewhat of an authority on summoning. For now however, go home and relax. You still have six more days of training ahead of you. Dismissed."

Team Seven bowed and left immediately, leaving Jiraiya with the Sandaime.

"The resemblance is uncanny Jiraiya. Its like looking at you guys when I was training you."

Jiraiya nodded. "With Naruto at least it feels like I'm training Minato again. Any word from Kakashi?"

The Sandaime nodded. "He sent one of his ninken to me earlier today. He has discovered his target but anomalies have arisen. He is not sure how he will be able to complete his mission but he will do his best. I know he will. Keep the kids safe this time Jiraiya? I can't handle another stressful situation like that."

Jiraiya scratched the back of his head. "Yeah I won't take my eyes off of them I promise. Try to get some sleep Sarutobi-Sensei. I'm heading out."

With that Jiraiya was out the window and gone. Sarutobi was left to his thoughts once more.

'Gorillas, Dragons, and Owls. It seems like the next generation will have a deadlock as well. I can not wait to see how that comes out.'

 **XXXXX**

Kakashi stood in a tree overlooking the small town. He had sent a ninken to the Sandaime not too long ago, informing him of the anomalies. Not even ten minutes after Kakashi had located his target, an Anbu wearing a Tiger mask appeared next to him and ushered him to safety. Something was wrong and Kakashi was walking right into it. He shrugged and followed the target.

'Looks like this isn't going to be as easy as I thought.'

 **XXXXX**

And that is chapter five! I have to say that this chapter was very fun to write! I personally enjoyed writing the different perspectives the way I did. Let me know if you like how I split the characters up! Also, I hadn't realized that owls were in the series so I tried to rig something up. The way I decided their summons was on personality. Naruto was stubborn and wouldn't give up. Sasuke is proud and desires power. Sakura is intelligent. Now another thing I want to know is do you guys want me to write out Kakashi's mission? Or just use a flashback to explain what happened? The only difference it would make is honestly about a chapter I think. So like always, let me know if you liked what you read and leave me a review!

-D.K

Jutsu list:

Kage bunshin no jutsu (Shadow clone technique)

Katon: Shuriken no jutsu (Fire Shuriken)

Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu (Great Fireball)

Fuuton: Shuriken no jutsu (Wind Shuriken)

Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning technique)


End file.
